South Dakota is poised to enact the first statewide restrictions on transgender students in the United States , after the senate approved a bill forcing such students to use separate restrooms and locker rooms . Civil rights groups decried the measure as discriminatory while others portrayed the bill as a racist measure . The measure ’s sponsor , Republican Fred Deutsch , argued it was necessary to protect the “ bodily privacy rights ” of “ biologic boys and girls ” . So - called bathroom bills have cropped up across the country as the transgender rights movement has grown in size . At least five states have enacted similar measures in the past year .
South Dakota is poised to enact the first statewide restrictions on transgender students in the United States, after the senate approved a bill forcing such students to use separate restrooms and locker rooms. Civil rights groups decried the measure as discriminatory while lawmakers portrayed the bill as a privacy measure. The measure’s sponsor, Republican Fred Deutsch, said it was necessary to protect the “bodily privacy rights” of “biologic boys and girls”. So-called bathroom bills have cropped up across the country as the transgender rights movement has grown in size. At least five states have considered similar measures in the past year.