South Dakota House fails to override transgender bill veto

In this Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard delivers his during his annual state of the state address at the state Capitol in Pierre. Daugaard vetoed a bill Tuesday, March 1, 2016, that would have made it the first state in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth.
In this Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard delivers his during his annual state of the state address at the state Capitol in Pierre. Daugaard vetoed a bill Tuesday, March 1, 2016, that would have made it the first state in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth.
photo Representatives from the Center for Equality, American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, LGBT supporters and members of the Human Rights Campaign stand on the front steps of the State Capitol to honor Trans Kids Support Visibility Day in Pierre, S.D. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. Gov. Dennis Daugaard heard from several transgender people during a meeting Tuesday at the Capitol, where advocates gathered to urge the governor to veto a bill that would require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth.

PIERRE, S.D. - The South Dakota House failed on Thursday to override Gov. Dennis Daugaard's veto of a bill that would have required students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their sex at birth.

The override attempt needed two-thirds support in the chamber, but supporters didn't get enough votes.

The attempt came two days after Daugaard vetoed the bill, saying it didn't address any pressing issue and the matter was best left to school districts. The governor had also warned that such a law could invite litigation against both the state and its schools.

The bill originally passed the House by a 58-10 margin, and an override would have needed just 47 votes in the House to proceed to the Senate. But the legislation only narrowly passed the Senate on a 20-15 vote, which would not meet the override threshold. Senate Majority Leader Corey Brown, a Republican, said ahead of the House vote that overriding a veto is usually an uphill fight, "especially if you are short the votes the first time around."

In his veto message on Tuesday, Daugaard said the bill "does not address any pressing issue" and that such decisions were best left to local school officials. Republican Rep. Fred Deutsch, the primary sponsor of the bill in the House, asked lawmakers later Tuesday not to override the veto, saying more focus on the issue would detract from the Legislature's other accomplishments this session.

Transgender rights have become a new flashpoint in the nation's cultural clashes following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage last year. The high court victory encouraged advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights to push harder, prompting backlash from conservatives.

Caitlyn Jenner, the transgender activist and former Olympic decathlon gold medalist, had called on Daugaard to veto the bill. Opponents also used the South Dakota Tourism Department's Twitter hashtag to take aim at the state's roughly $3.8 billion tourism industry.

Daugaard initially offered a positive reaction to South Dakota's proposal, but said he wanted to research the issue before making a decision. Last week, he met with three transgender individuals and heard their personal stories; before the meeting, he said he had never knowingly met a transgender person.

Deutsch said Tuesday that the bill was meant to be a practical solution to "our evolving social values on gender issues." Deutsch said he still believed the bill was a good piece of legislation, but said national focus on South Dakota should be on the state's business environment and the excellent work being done it the state's schools.

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