South Dakota educators balk at proposed ban on gender identity, expression instruction

South Dakota lawmakers drew criticism from the state’s top education officials and human rights advocates Wednesday after proposing to limit how classrooms address gender and sexuality.

House Bill 1108 proposed a simple ban on any instruction of “gender identity or gender expression” from kindergarten through seventh-grade. 

Critics said the bill’s co-authors were trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist, with language that is overly broad.

Lawmakers amended the bill to say "gender dysphoria" instead of "gender identity or gender expression," and they ultimately decided discussions on gender belong in the home, not in schools. The bill passed out of the House Education Committee on a 9-6 vote.

Bill sponsors during the hearing expressed a general fear of teachers discussing topics in class related to gay and transgender communities. 

“I’m 36 years old, and I’m still confused as to what woman-ness and man-ness is, so I don’t know why we’d be teaching that to someone in the fourth grade,” said Rep. Tom Pischke, R-Dell Rapids.

Pischke, who sponsored the bill, gave examples from other states such as New Jersey, where lawmakers have passed laws to protect the rights of transgender students.

Limiting instruction on gender identity is not a topic worthy of legislation, said officials representing South Dakota school boards and the state’s teachers union.

Sioux Falls teacher Tony Martinet gave testimony against the bill during the morning’s committee hearing, saying parents are already able to have conversation with their child’s school about classroom topics or materials they believe are inappropriate.

“I think one of the problems with this bill is it implies a lack of trust in our educators to make appropriate decisions about their students,” Martinet said.

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Rob Monson, who heads the advocacy group for school administrators in the state, also spoke against the bill.

Monson said in banning instruction of gender identity, public school educators in classrooms across the state could no longer differentiate between boys and girls at all since the term applies broadly to any person who identifies as male or female.

Passing such a law would stop teachers from being able to separate boys and girls into different groups for gym class or sex ed, Monson said.

“I receive many calls with real issues that are happening in our schools,” Monson said. “Never have I had an administrator call and ask what to do with a teacher that is teaching about gender identity in their classroom.”

Pischke said even if its not yet a concern in local classrooms, it might be in the future.

“I can’t point to anything specifically in South Dakota,” he said. “But if you look across the nation there’s multiple signs this is coming.”