South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard Meets with Transgender People

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Dennis Daugaard says meeting with transgender people "put a human face" on a bill at his desk that would make South Dakota the first state to require students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth.

But the Republican governor said after the Tuesday meeting that he will still have to weigh both sides of the issue before deciding whether he will sign it. Daugaard previously said that he hasn't knowingly met a transgender person.

Thomas Lewis is a transgender high school student from Sioux Falls who met with the governor. Lewis says he thinks Daugaard understood from the stories told that transgender people want to be treated with respect.

The governor has also met with the bill's sponsors.

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