The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American School Counselor Association, the Child Welfare League of America, the National Association of School Psychologists, the National Association of Social Workers and the National Education Association have joined together to write an open letter to the nation's governors stating their opposition to bills which target transgender students such as the one awaiting the signature of Governor Daugaard in South Dakota.

These appalling proposals would compromise the safety and well-being of the young people we all have the duty and obligation to support and protect.

All of our nation’s children deserve equal protections and treatment in their classrooms; these anti-transgender bills foster discrimination and do harm to students, their families, and their communities.

Since state legislatures began meeting this year, we have already seen nearly two dozen bills introduced seeking to deny transgender students access to sex-segregated spaces that include restrooms and locker rooms, and preventing them from playing on sports teams that are consistent with their gender identity.

Transgender kids are already at heightened risk for violence, bullying and harassment, and these bills exacerbate those risks by creating a hostile environment in one of the places they should feel the safest and most supported. In addition, students who would be affected by these bills are among our most vulnerable to experiencing depression and engaging in self harm, including suicide.

The consequences of this legislation cannot be overstated. It endangers every single school’s funding and budgets, and it endangers the mental health of every transgender kid in the state. Daugaard would be requiring every school district to violate federal law for the sole purpose of marginalizing transgender kids, possibly endangering their well-being to such an extent that they experience massive depression and even consider suicide.

--Zach Ford, Think Progress

Daugaard has stated he will decide on HB 1008 by Tuesday.

We stand in opposition to these shameful bills, and, on behalf of our members and communities, call on governors across the country to reject these harmful measures if they reach their desks. Every student deserves equal access to education, academic success, and a future in which they are empowered to fulfill their true potential, and these laws contravene that fundamental principle, which has long guided our nation’s education policy.

South Dakota transgender high school student Thomas Lewis of Souix Falls has a Change.org petition addressing the legislation.

Being a kid is hard enough. We don't need lawmakers to make it even harder. South Dakota lawmakers are sending a message that it's okay to segregate, humiliate, and bully transgender students like me.

--Thomas Lewis

There’s no problem that this is meant to address. We’re seeing that now with the Seattle nonsense with some groups trying to get men to change in women’s locker rooms. They’re not able to make it a problem.

--Mara Keisling, National Center for Transgender Equality

HB 1008’s supporters insisted that the legislation was designed to protect children — at the same time calling transgender children “twisted” and “unfortunate.” But contrary to their fears, schools across the country that have had inclusive policies of transgender students for years have never documented any incidents of students’ safety or privacy being at risk.

In other words, nobody actually benefits from this legislation, but it definitely has consequences.

--Ford

Let’s stop calling these bathroom bills.. Let’s stop calling these anti-transgender bills. Let’s call them what they are: Instruments of cultural genocide.

--Brynn Tannehill

GLSEN has found that "59 percent of transgender students had been forced to use the bathroom or locker room of their legal sex. As a result, almost two thirds of transgender students (63 percent) reported avoiding bathroom facilities altogether, with a majority similarly avoiding locker rooms for the sole reason that they felt unsafe."

If a student is suddenly segregated into a separate bathroom, it outs the student,” violating their private medical information. It also targets the student for ostracization. “This is all about alienation and setting students aside. It’s segregation and the impacts of kids being ‘othered’ are well known.

--Keisling

GLSEN’s survey found that students who experienced such marginalization were more likely to miss school or drop out entirely, have lower grades, abandon plans to pursue higher education, and experience higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem. A recent study found that LGBT youth who experience high or increasing rates of bullying throughout school face a much higher risk of long-term mental health consequences, including major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Major depression is a significant risk factor for suicide. A study of transgender adults found that they experience astronomically high rates of suicide attempts — not because they are transgender, but because of the high rates of discrimination that have deleterious effects on their mental health.

--Ford