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Politics March 13, 2017
Well that didn’t take long, South Dakota. Just under two months after President Trump’s inauguration, the state became the first to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2017.
Of course, this follows the Donald’s repeal of protections for transgender students that had allowed them, under President Barack Obama’s administration, to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity.
Now South Dakota has quickly followed that anti-inclusive trend with Senate Bill 149, which will allow taxpayer funded agencies to refuse to provide any service, including adoption or foster care services, on the basis on the agency’s religious or moral convictions.
RELATED: Last Year Trump Vowed to Protect LGBTQ Rights. This Week He Broke That Promise
With this legislation, couples looking to give children a much-needed home could be turned away for being mixed-faith, interracial, LGBTQ+ or even if one or both of the partners has previously been divorced. Yes, this is actually legislation that exists in 2017.
Perhaps one of the more horrifying results of the bill is that it seemingly allows the use of disgusting “conversion therapy” – the likes of which have been touted by VP Mike Pence – on LGBTQ children. The use of such abusive practices would not be cause for an agency to lose their license or contract so long as the so-called “therapy” was compelled by religious belief.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLA) of South Dakota has condemned the bill, writing, “In a state facing a labor and talent shortage, this bill has sparked national interest and local questions as to whether South Dakota welcomes diversity and values the rights of individual citizens.”
“This discriminatory legislation takes South Dakota in the wrong direction, and sends the message that our leaders are more concerned with the desires of religious agencies than the rights of individuals and children in our state… In the end, this bill was never about religious freedom. It has always been about allowing private organizations that discriminate to receive state contracts and taxpayer dollars to carry out their religions missions,” the organization’s Policy Director Libby Skarin added.
The Human Rights Campaign also denounced the bill, calling attention to the dangerous step backward for LGBTQ+ rights, as well as the risks it will inflict upon vulnerable children in the state.
“This is the first anti-LGBTQ bill that any state has signed into law this session. Governor [Dennis] Daugaard’s action not only puts the best interests of the more than a thousand vulnerable children served by South Dakota’s foster care system at risk, it signals the potential of a dark new reality for the fight for LGBTQ rights,” HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow said.
Basically, way to go, South Dakota.
The terrible new South Dakota anti-LGBTQ bill makes them the first state to legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community in 2017. Image via Giphy
