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KATIE ZERR: Legislators should not be in the exam room


Why do certain legislators in South Dakota feel the need to make our state less safe for those who are perceived as not “normal” to certain segments of our population?
Do they not understand that every time they introduce legislation masked by their claims of protecting children, that they are perpetuating the myths that only children without issues deserve to be protected?
We are not talking about cross-dressing entertainers who impersonate Cher or Joan Rivers. These are children who identify with the gender opposite of their birth sex. It is something that happens in humans and in nature.
Rep. Fred Deutsch, R-Florence, filed HB 1057, which he’s calling the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, and 46 legislators signed on as co-sponsors of the bill including District 23’s Spencer Gosch. Deutsch said children in South Dakota are being hurt, and he’s introducing the legislation to protect them.
This legislation makes it a felony for medical professionals to treat transgender children with hormones and gender confirmation surgery in South Dakota.
Duetsch, and those of like mind, think they know more than medical professionals. They think children need to be protected from overzealous doctors and parents who go off half-cocked and start the process of allowing their children to lead a life of value and less mental anguish without first thinking it through.
Duetsch said he is being the adult in the room. Therein lies the problem, Rep. Duetsch. You and the laws you propose have no business being in that room. That room is for the medical professionals, the parents and that child. You and your legislation are not welcome and obviously not informed enough to be there.
Those who think this is a protection bill are buying the bucket of baloney some South Dakota legislators have been peddling for years. Buried behind the notion that they are protecting our youth from the realities of the world, they have tried, time and time again to make the lives of transgender people, their families and now medical professionals more difficult than it already is.
These legislators think they know more about health, mental health and the issue involved in these life changing matters than those who spend years learning about them. This legislation will see that doctors in South Dakota treating transgender youth will be persecuted rather than protected.
It is not about some pre-teen waking up one day and telling their parents they no longer want to be a boy. It is not about trying to gain the upper hand in sports or wanting to be a peeping tom in the girls’ bathroom at school as some would lead us to believe.
These are children who don’t understand why they are not comfortable being a male or female. These are families that wrestle with decisions before ever going to see a medical professional. These are families that seek counseling, medical advise and spend years debating what is the best road for them to travel to make the life of their child worth living.
If we believe Duetsch and those other legislators who think they know more than the parents or the doctors, these children need to be protected from those who love them and want the best for them, by laws drawn up by others who don’t have a clue.
Again, South Dakota taxpayers will be footing the bill while organizations that actually work to protect people’s rights take these laws to court.
Every year we have to spend time and money on legislation such as this that has no business being a part of the short South Dakota legislative session.
Instead of working to increase revenues in order to provide needed education funding for kindergarten through 12th grade students, our legislators argue about making life harder on transgender youth. It has been part of the scenario in Pierre since 2015.
When will these part-time legislators quit wasting our time and money on their personal crusades and get back to doing the business of the state?
I for one am getting fed up with watching this kind of legislation take up precious time and effort of our law makers when both are in short supply during these annual sessions.

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