On Wednesday, South Dakota’s House State Affairs Committee voted 11-2 to advance HB 1259 to the full House, a bill that would protect women’s private spaces, such as restrooms and changing rooms, from biological men and boys in public schools and on government properties.
This bill goes hand-in-hand with two recent actions from President Trump. The first is an Executive Order establishing that the federal government will only recognize two sexes – male and female. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the Order states. The second is a directive from the Office of Personnel Management that instructed all federal agencies to adopt the Order’s definition of sex and designate “intimate spaces,” such as bathrooms, by biological sex rather than “gender identity.” HB 1259 accomplishes on the state level what the Trump administration instituted on a federal level.
“Men don’t belong in women’s private spaces. Our laws and policies should recognize and respect that males and females are biologically different,” South Dakota Representative Brandei Schaefbauer, HB 1259’s sponsor, shared. “Respecting these biological differences is essential to ensuring the privacy, dignity, and safety of both sexes. Sex-specific showers, restrooms, and locker rooms are a common-sense solution to protecting the bodily privacy and safety of all.”
This is the fifth attempt by South Dakota legislators to pass such a bill. Similar legislation was filed in 2016, 2017, twice in 2018, and once in 2022. This year, the bill has a higher chance of passing both chambers thanks to the new makeup of the legislature after the November 2024 election.
HB 1259 instructs public schools to designate multi-occupancy changing rooms, restrooms, and sleeping quarters as “for use exclusively by females, or for use exclusively by males.” Any student unable or unwilling to use those facilities can file a written notice with the school administration, who “may grant a request for a reasonable accommodation.” Under the bill, school districts can be sued if they allow a person to use a facility that does not correspond to their biological sex, or if they fail to take reasonable steps to safeguard bodily privacy.
Opponents say HB 1259 is “motivated by ignorance, misinformation and fear” and that allowing people to use spaces that correspond to their so-called “gender identity” doesn’t hurt anyone. On the contrary – open bathroom policies have consistently put women and girls in danger.
Consider Target, which was the first major corporation to institute an open bathroom and changing room policy in 2016. The retailer repeatedly came under fire for men taking advantage of the system. Numerous men were caught recording women undressing in fitting rooms, and there was at least one documented instance of an adult male exposing himself to a young girl in the female bathroom.
The dreadful results of open bathroom policies don’t end there. In 2022, one mother sued an Oklahoma school after her 15-year-old daughter was attacked and “severely beaten” in a girl’s restroom by a 17-year-old biological male who “identified” as a girl. In another instance, a student at a northern Virginia school was sexually assaulted in the female bathroom by a male student wearing a skirt. The student had previously attacked another female student at a different school that same year. The victim’s family sued the school district for $30 million for failing to properly investigate the attack and attempting to cover it up.
These examples only scratch the surface of crimes that have been enabled by open bathroom and changing room policies. HB 1259 is based on facts and reality – not misinformation. Women deserve to feel safe in intimate spaces designed for their privacy. This bill reflects what is now the broader policy of the United States government. It’s time for change in South Dakota.
