A South Dakota community has rallied to help a transgender couple buy the towns only bookstore now that the states anti-trans bathroom ban has forced its original owner to move east to protect his 10-year-old daughter.As The Washington Post reports, the people of Vermillion, South Dakota have so far donated over $27,000 via a GoFundMe campaign for Nova and Elias Donstad to make a down payment on Outside of a Dog, a beloved family-owned bookstore. The shops owner, Mike Phelan, opened the store shortly after moving to Vermillion with his family five years ago and discovering that the town did not have a bookstore. He named it after comedian Groucho Marxs quip, Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Related Trans girl pretended to have broken arm to avoid telling friends why she had to use nurses bathroom Now, though, the Phelans are moving to New England because of South Dakotas recently passed law banning trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity.Mike and his wife Jens trans daughter has identified as a girl from an early age. In 2021, the couple successfully lobbied the Vermillion School Board to adopt a policy allowing their daughter to use the girls restroom making it the only district in all of South Dakota with such a policy. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The following year, Republican state Rep. Fred Deutsch introduced a bill to ban transgender students from using the restroom that corresponds to their gender. Mike spoke out against the bill at the time, sharing his daughters story, and it ultimately failed to pass. But this year, a similar bill succeeded.In recent years, however, the state has also passed laws banning trans girls from participating in school sports that align with their gender, and on gender-affirming care for minors. As the Post notes, the Phelans daughter is too young for medical intervention and is not interested in sports. The states bathroom ban, however, would force her to use the boys restroom at school or potentially go back to faking injuries so that she could use the school nurses bathroom. The Phelans, like many other families of trans kids, have opted to move to a state with explicit legal protections for their daughter. As the Post notes, South Dakotas anti-trans laws have ripple effects beyond trans people and their families. In the case of Vermillion, the town stood to lose not only beloved community members when the Phelans left, but its only bookstore as well.Thats where the Donstads came in. Elias, a trans grad student, and Nova, a nonbinary nurses assistant, offered to buy Outside of a Dog from the Phelans. Unsure how they would manage the down payment, the Donstads started their GoFundMe campaign at the suggestion of another Vermillion local, and the town helped them raise the money they needed. With the sale finalized, Mike Phelan recently handed the bookshop over to its new owners.Both on Mikes last day at the store and at a farewell party that evening, Vermillion residents turned out in droves to express their sadness at losing the Phelans, their frustration with Republican attacks on their daughters rights, and their relief that the bookstore would live on.One couple introduced themselves to the new owners. We will support you, they told Elias and Nova. We want you here.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.