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South Dakota governor signs anti-transgender bathroom bill

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A new law in South Dakota will restrict transgender people’s use of communal facilities in public schools and state-owned buildings starting July 1.

Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden signed bill HB 1259 into law on Friday, which prohibits transgender people from using changing rooms and restrooms that align with their gender identity. The bill also allows people who encounter transgender people in these facilities to seek declaratory and injunctive relief against the school or state if officials did not take reasonable steps to prevent the transgender person from using that facility.

“South Dakota is a place where common-sense values remain common,” Rhoden said in a statement, adding that the bill promotes “freedom from the ‘woke’ agenda like what has happened in too many other places.”

This is the first time South Dakota has had a state law restricting transgender people’s bathroom access, thanks to the overwhelmingly conservative state legislature this session. A bill had previously passed through both chambers of the state legislature in 2016 before it was vetoed by then Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

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