The House is advancing a bill that prohibits ‘sex’ designation corrections on birth certificates.
Critics say it puts the safety and well-being of transgender South Dakotans at risk.
Thirty-nine House lawmakers voted for the bill - 31 voted against.
The measure prohibits judges from changing the sex designation on a person’s birth certificate. Since 2015, at least 14 transgender people have made that request in court. Two people were not allowed to change their birth certificates.
Republican State Representative Fred Deutsch is the bill’s author. He’s grateful the bill was revived after being rejected in a committee, and that it passed onto the state senate. Deutsch insists his proposal is not a ‘hate bill’ but designed to clarify judicial authority.
“So our court systems have uniform application and justice is uniformly applied across the state.”
The ACLU of South Dakota says it will sue the state if the bill becomes law.
Jett Jonelis is the advocacy manager with the ACLU. They say that bill would require transgender people to use a birth certificate with the state’s view of their sex, rather than the reality of their identity. Jonelis says it violates their right to equal protection.
“The clear purpose of this law is, obviously, to prevent transgender people from amending their birth certificate. We know that is the purpose because with this bill only your sex cannot be amended on the birth certificate. Even then, only transgender people can’t. His argument is general applicability, but it’s just not.”
If the bill passes, Jonelis also says the state would force transgender people to give inaccurate information about their sexual identity when asked about their birth certificate. They say that would violate the first amendment.