Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of South Dakota may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents.

In 2024, The Transformation Project, a transgender rights organisation, sued the state of South Dakota over a discrimination case and won the lawsuit.

[8] On May 22, 2014, six same-sex couples filed a federal lawsuit against South Dakota officials seeking the right to marry and recognition of marriages performed in other jurisdictions.

The suit, Rosenbrahn v. Daugaard, was brought by Minneapolis civil rights attorney Joshua A. Newville, who filed a similar lawsuit on behalf of seven same-sex couples in North Dakota on June 6, 2014.

The state defendants argued she was bound by the Eighth Circuit's decision in Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning (2006), which the plaintiffs said did not address the questions they were raising in this case.

The plaintiffs on July 1 opposed that request, citing statements by the Attorney General that county officials were responsible individually for interpreting Obergefell.

[24] The county of Oglala Lakota,[25] and the cities of Sioux Falls,[26] and Vermillion prohibit discrimination against county/city employees on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

[28][29] In March 2021, Governor Kristi Noem signed a bill into law allowing businesses to deny goods or services to LGBTQ people and others based on the owners' "purpoted religious beliefs".

In September 2019, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed hate crime legislation which protects LGBT and two-spirit individuals, with 14 votes in favor, 2 against and 1 abstention.

[43] Three years earlier, on February 10, 2020, a state senate committee had voted down similar legislative proposals, including one that would have criminalized physicians for prescribing hormones and hormone blockers or for performing surgery (unless they were trying to fit an intersex child into the gender binary),[44][45] and another that would not have made physicians' involvement a crime but would have allowed their patients to sue them if they later felt regret.

[48] In March 2016, Governor Dennis Daugaard vetoed a bill that would have required transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their birth sex.

[49] On 12 February 2019, the House passed legislation (known as HB 1108) which would have barred public schools up to grade K-7 (12-13 years old) from instructing students on gender identity and expression.

In March 2021, legislation banning transgender individuals from participating in school sports and athletic teams passed the South Dakota Legislature.

[52][53] On March 19, Governor Kristi Noem refused to sign the bill into law, opposing portions of the bill that would ban transgender athletes from competing in college sports, worrying such a ban would cause collegiate sporting organizations, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to avoid holding games and tournaments in the state.

10 US states have similar laws or regulations that legally ban transgender individuals from playing sports, athletics and Olympics within South Dakota.

[62][63] A 2022 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) opinion poll found that 63% of South Dakota residents supported same-sex marriage, while 37% opposed it and 1% were unsure.

The same poll also found that 67% of South Dakota residents supported an anti-discrimination law covering sexual orientation and gender identity, while 32% were opposed.