Representative Jon Hansen (R-25/Dell Rapids) has made opposition to out-of-state influence on South Dakota politics a hallmark of his second full term in the Legislature.
Today, Representative Hansen sat with the House State Affairs Committee to hear testimony for and against House Bill 1057, a measure outlawing certain medical services for transgender youth. Committee minutes show that, after sponsor Representative Fred Deutsch’s (R-4/Florence) introduction, nine proponents spoke:
- Sydney Wright, self, Georgia
- Mike Laidlaw, self, California
- Lynn Meagher, self, Washington State
- Natasha Chart, self, Washington D.C.
- Bernie Hudson, self, Tennessee
- David Pickup, self, Texas
- Glenn Ridder, self, Sioux Falls
- Kara Dansky, self, Washington D.C.
- Scott Newgent, self, Texas
89% of the witnesses who urged Representative Hansen to enact this bill were from out of state. All of those out-of-state witnesses phoned in their testimony.
Sixteen opponents then spoke:
- Dean Krogman, SD Medical Association
- Dr. Flynn, self, Sioux Falls
- Michaela Seiber, self, Sioux Falls
- Mitch Rave, Sanford Health
- Michelle Schimelpfenig, Sanford Health
- Dr. Alana Al Nofal, Sanford Health
- Dr. Kappenman, self, Sioux Falls
- David Owen, SD Chamber of Commerce
- Bill Van Camp, SD Retailers Association
- Debra Owen, Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce
- Candi Brings Plenty, American Civil Liberties Union
- Dr. Naomi Lundeman-Smith, Leaders Engaged and Determined SD
- Kim Parke, self, Sioux Falls
- Quinncy Parke, self, Sioux Falls
- Susan Williams, self, Sioux Falls
- Roger Tellinghuisen, Human Rights Campaign
100% of the witnesses who urged Representative Hansen to reject this bill were from South Dakota.
House State Affairs passed three amendments to make the bill slightly less harsh. The committee rejected a fourth amendment to further weaken HB 1057. Representative Hansen then joined an eight-man Republican majority to vote the way the out-of-state witnesses urged them to vote, advancing HB 1057 to the full House.
Representative Jon Hansen’s vote provides further evidence that when he says he opposes out-of-state influence in our politics, he really means he opposes out-of-state influence that supports an agenda other than his own.
And this, Mr. H, is exactly why so many support a ban on out-of-staters testifying in the legislatures.
grudznick knows that just because many … even a majority support any silly idea doesn’t make it constitutional. You could pass a slavery is legal law in Pierre.
Curious, Grudz: recent rulings have provided clear case law establishing that First Amendment right transcend state boundaries. But in the special world of Legislative committee hearings, how much control can the chair exert over speech from the floor? Can the chair ban testimony from out-of-staters? Could the chair go back to banning call-in testimony? Could the chair simply recognize South Dakotans to speak first and make out-of-staters wait until all residents have spoken? To enforce any such ban, could the chair require witnesses to present ID or sign affidavits? Do we really want to not allow experts from Minnesota, Iowa, or other places testify to our Legislature? Can we afford to make policy in a complete vacuum, without any evidence offered by people who have tried similar policies in other states?
Yes, the legislatures write their own rules and put them in a red book.
I’m wrong, then. About committee’s, there are no rights to free speech? I guess that make sense. It’s not public; it’s more like fact gathering.
But those rules, created by elected officials, acting in their official capacity, are subject to some level of Constitutional scrutiny, aren’t they?
Now why would the SDGOP want to ignore the wishes of SD citizens, whom they supposedly represent, to do whatever those out of state phone voices tell them? Hmmmm. 🤔🤔 What reason could there possibly be for them to so completely ignore the evidence presented by their sister and brother South Dakotans?
Does the SDGOP not respect South Dakotans?
Does the SDGOP think South Dakotans are stupid?
Does the SDGOP feel they need to act as parents because South Dakotans don’t know any better?
who cares, this is about keeping kids save I dont give a nickle where the testimony came from. 5 people spoke about the economic impact of passing this bill. Have turned a corner in society where economy even comes into a factor when protecting children.
you really want to know why kids shouldn’t med tran watch this.
https://youtu.be/Dols40EIYRw
It just wouldn’t be a SD legislative session without some Republican wanting to know who you are sleeping with, what equipment is in your underwear, which bathroom you can use, who can get birth control… Something strange about these old white gents fixated on some one’s body. Creepy!
These are the kooks Deutsch assembled to get between parents, kids with sexuality questions, and their doctors.
-Sydney Wright wrote “I Spent A Year As A Trans Man. Doctors Failed Me.”
-Michael Laidlaw is a rogue, private practice endocrinologist.
-Lynn Meagher wrote, “I’ve lost two kids to the trans cult, I want them back.”
-Natasha Chart wrote, “Trans Activists’ Threats To Execute Women Sure Don’t Look Like Social Justice”
-Bernie Hudson – “Why We Need To Fight Against Transgender Acceptance”
-David Pickup – David H. Pickup is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California who says he was once gay and became heterosexual after undergoing reparative therapy starting at his 30s.
-Glenn Ridder MD says it’s “medically impossible” to change a person’s gender.
-Kara Dansky attorney says, “Trans activism is men’s rights and claims recognizing trans people in the Civil Rights Act would cause women’s liberation to ‘utterly disappear.”
-Scott Newgent (fake name) a transgender man said he was harmed but didn’t give examples or specifics.
~ The unconstitutional regulation of the L.G.B.T.Q. community has never been about preventing harm to anyone, but rather to eradicate and erase L.G.B.T.Q. people from the face of the planet … and that’s been Fred Deutsch’s motive since moving to Watertown. As my Aunt said, “He’s a scary little man.”
Hey, Scott, have you ever been to South Dakota? Do you know anyone in South Dakota? Do you know any doctors in South Dakota? Do you know any transgender youth in South Dakota?
Newgent is promoting his own bias and drumming up business and I didn’t have to watch any of the video except the first screen shot.
Maybe Scott and Happy Camper can join forces. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.
Fred is the worst.
Back to the conservative principal that government needs to be small enough to fit into the bedroom?
I really thought there would be more conservative outcry about the trespassing of Big Government into parental decisions/rights. The SD Legislature can tell parents how to (and not to) doctor their children? That once was were conservatives would draw a line in the sand — even in the culture war.
Sorry, I totally missed this. Have a brand new laptop and somehow it got lost. Happy to see so many SD medical people were there to testify against this total nonsense which would deny needed treatment to transkids.
Looks like Scott has a whole lot of other concerns to worry about besides his own irrational self revelations; starting with basic language, writing and literacy skills. Any legislator that gives any credibility to that lame commentary has rocks in his head.
Maybe Deutsch and his church would rather transgender kids just kill themselves. He does have a long history of hating LGBTQ in “his state”. Puberty blockers proven to reduce suicides in trans youth. https://www.newsweek.com/transgender-puberty-blockers-suicidal-thoughts-study-1483655
Rep. Deutsch said in an interview with Family Research Council “These procedures are done by these so-called doctors… that dance on the edge of medicine… You know, I’m the son of a Holocaust survivor. I’ve had family members killed in Auschwitz. And I’ve seen the pictures of the bizarre medical experiments. I don’t want that to happen to our kids. And that’s what’s going on right now.”
– Freddo seems to be projecting his inner self-loathing onto innocent children for who know what reason? Intense personal guilt, possibly? Deutsch himself is a “so called Doctor” and earns a living “dancing on the edge of medicine”. In fact, chiropractors aren’t even recognized as legitimate by the medical community. He rejected and denounced Judaism, and is now insulting that religion and the survivors of The Holocaust by comparing medical treatment proven to end suicidal thoughts with the deaths of millions at the hands of Nazi’s and Hitler. Have you no shame, Fred Deutsch?
No Porter, Deutsch has no shame, no sense of decency.