State senator’s comments cause transgender backlash
Recent comments from a group of Republican South Dakota
legislators on proposed legislation in the state have caused controversy among
the transgender movement.
In a discussion on a bill that would limit bathroom and shower
facility use in South Dakota schools to students sharing the same gender, State
Senator David Omdahl referred to individuals suffering from gender dysphoria as
"twisted" due to their identity confusion and said they would benefit
from psychological treatment.
"I'm sorry if you're so twisted you don't even know who you
are," said Omdahl, explaining the intent behind HB 1008 at a legislative coffee this past Saturday.
Omdahl first praised the bill, stressing that it was about
protecting the state's children, before indicating that gender dysphoria would
be better served by psychological treatment.
"They're treating the wrong part of the anatomy. They ought
to be treating it up here," he said, pointing to his head in a video posted by the Argus Leader. "And so my feeling
is, let's protect the children. Let's get this bill passed, to save our
kids."
Omdahl's remarks, along with those of other legislators at the
event who support the proposed bill, were not well-received by transgender
advocates and individuals.
"People who are transgender are not twisted. We are people
just like everyone else," University of South Dakota assistant professor
in clinical psychology Jae Puckett said in a report from KSFY-ABC. "Bills like this, if it
gets passed or not, has a detrimental effect on people. If it does get passed,
it's a form of basically legalized discrimination."
"REALLY SD? Really?" was the response from PlanetTransgender.com, which used an
expletive to tag its article.
The Peacock Panache website stated that "the South Dakota GOP wants to
unduly burden transgender students based solely on their gender identity. And
the coffee event demonstrated the hate-filled animus and fear behind the
legislation."
TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com referred
to Omdahl's
comment on transgender identity confusion as "malignant" and said of
Omdahl and his fellow lawmakers who back the bill, "Their ignorance runs
counter to basic human rights."
While the American Psychiatric Association (APA) changed
the name of the
psychological disorder affecting transgender individuals from "gender
identity disorder" to "gender dysphoria" in 2012, the condition
remains classified as a mental disorder by the APA.
The following year, a prominent Toronto psychiatrist issued a
statement saying that from a medical and scientific perspective, there is no
such thing as a "transgender person."
Doctor Joseph Berger said regarding legislation proposed in Canada
at the time that terms such as "gender expression" and "gender
identity" are at best ambiguous and are more an emotional
appeal than a
statement of scientific fact.
Doctor Berger stated as well there seemed "to be no medical
or scientific reason to grant any special rights or considerations to people
who are unhappy with the sex they were born into, or to people who wish to
dress in the clothes of the opposite sex."
South Dakota's HB 1008 would designate use of restrooms, locker
rooms, and shower rooms in the state's schools to students of the same
biological gender.
For the purpose of the bill, biological gender, or
"biological sex," denotes "the physical condition of being male
or female as determined by a person's chromosomes and anatomy as identified at
birth."
The proposed bill provides for reasonable accommodation for
transgender students such as a single-occupancy restroom; a unisex restroom; or
the controlled use of a restroom, locker room, or shower room.
Another South Dakota lawmaker, Representative Steven Haugaard,
told those present at the February 6 legislative coffee that the topic was
sensitive "only because it was pushed into the category of political
correctness."
The legislator said that decades of law practice, service on a
county mental health board, and legal representation of transgender and
homosexual individuals had shown him the personal struggles among individuals
identifying as transgender, but conceding on demands such as shared bathroom
facilities would be counterproductive.
"And seeing the angst that exists in their lives, for us to
perpetuate confusion in the lives of anyone is a disservice to them,"
Haugaard stated.
"I can tell you that the suicide rate is dramatically
higher," he said. "And it's because of the internal confusion and
angst that exists."
"And by having the school districts or the state put their
stamp of approval on this [allowing students access to facilities for the
opposite sex] as though it's a reasonable alternative to your natural creation,
it's a poor choice by the state to do that. And I think it facilitates
increased problems among that segment of the population."
Representative Jim Stalzer also spoke in favor of HB 1008 at the
legislative discussion, rejecting the idea the law was an attempt to supersede
federal anti-discrimination law, which he said specifically excludes restrooms,
locker rooms, and showers.
"So I do not think we are flouting federal law,"
Stalzer stated. "I think we are protecting the young women in our South
Dakota high schools."
Stalzer went on to say it is already a crime for a male to
expose himself in front of females, and thus anyone with male anatomy entering
a female restroom would be in violation of that law.
Representative Mark Willadsen reiterated the proposed
legislation's intention.
"To me this bill was pretty simple," Willadsen said.
"Basically, it says, if you're a boy, you go in the boys' room; if you're
girl, you go in the girls' room. If you're one of the unfortunate people that
don't really know, then you go to a separate bathroom."
The bill passed the South Dakota House January 27 in a 58-10
vote and is scheduled for a hearing by the Senate Education Committee on
February 11.
