LGBTQ+ supporters protest House Bill 1080

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - South Dakota House Bill 1080 would restrict doctors from prescribing hormonal medication and performing gender-affirming surgery to minors. The state Senate passed this bill in a vote of 30 to four, sending it to the House for debate.

“How is this protecting our youth, this is harming our youth. It’s going to lead them to be more desperate and unwanted, and we’re already getting calls at our center about kids that are like, what do we do? They’re very depressed and suicidal,” said Media Spokesperson Toni Diamond of Black Hills Center for Equality.

After opening comments and questions from constituents at South Dakota’s Cracker Barrel, one legislator says he respects people with differing opinions.

“I do believe that Americans of majority have a right to feel and do whatever they feel like doing as long as it doesn’t affect other people. I have every respect for people who have different of opinions than the majority; in fact that’s why I’m here to represent the majority and protect the minority,” said District 33 State Senator David Johnson.

According to Executive Director Susan Williams of Transformation Project Advocacy Network, parents of transgender youth should have the ability to get their child the medical care they need, and the decision should rest with parents and doctors, not politicians. One protester agrees and adds that this legislation adds to the dehumanization of trans people.

“See us as human beings, see us as equals, see us as no different than you, take time to get to know somebody in the LGBTQ community, see that we are human beings, see that we have the same feelings, and you know help fight for our rights to exist just as much as you fight for your own,” said Diamond.

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