Republican South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard last week vetoed a bathroom bill that lawmakers said would protect the privacy of students in school.
HB 1088 would require transgenders to only use bathrooms that correspond to their birth sex.
It defies the policy of the Obama administration that transgender students should be allowed to use bathrooms, locker rooms, toilets and showers based on their gender identity, according to Life Site News.
In his veto letter to the state House of Representatives, Daugaard said, "Instead of encouraging local solutions, this bill broadly regulates in a manner that invites conflict and litigation, diverting energy and resources from the education of the children of this state."
"Local school districts can, and have, made necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity," the governor said.
He said the bill "removes the ability of local school districts to determine the most appropriate accommodations for their individual students and replaces that flexibility with a state mandate."
Former transgender Walt Heyer, who underwent cosmetic surgery to represent herself as woman but later repented, said, "A man in fear vetoed a bill that would have projected the privacy and dignity of women. The biologically correct women will pay an unnecessary painful price for his failure."
Republican state Rep. Fred Deutsch, who introduced the bill, accused the Obama administration of overstepping in interpreting Title IX's ban on discrimination by extending it to transgenders who need help and counselling.
"It was an honest, sincere effort to protect the bodily privacy of our children," he said, adding that students' birth sex should determine which restroom to use.
"Because I think the national focus on South Dakota should be on our positive business environment, strong labor market and the excellent work our schools do, I am going to ask my legislative colleagues to concur with the Governor's veto. Further focus on this issue will detract from the other significant accomplishments of the legislature this session," Deutsch said.
The Heritage Foundation and the Roman Catholic bishops of South Dakota supported the bill.
LGBT activists praised the governor's veto, saying the bill is an "outrageous legislation attacking transgender kids."
Another South Dakota bill that would allow only boys on boys' sports teams and girls' on girls' teams passed the state House and is pending at the state Senate.
"It's a sad day when a Republican governor in a red state cannot bring himself to sign into law legislation protecting the privacy of girls in female restrooms from 'transgender' males who think they're women," said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality.
