South Carolina Forces Trans Students to Use Porta-Potties
South Carolina's new law mandates single-sex restrooms in schools, which could force trans students into outdoor portable toilets.
South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has signed a bill into law requiring multi-user restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities in K-12 schools and public colleges to be designated for use according to a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The new law — the “South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act” — defines “sex” as a person’s biological sex as observed or verified at birth.
It allows transgender students to use single-occupancy restrooms. But if a school lacks one, it can designate outdoor porta-potties as single-occupancy restrooms. The measure could effectively force transgender students to use the porta-potties.
The law also requires schools to provide a single-sex changing facility. But it does not require those facilities to be separate from single-sex restrooms — meaning the porta-potties could also be designated as “changing areas” for transgender students.
For overnight school trips, the law prohibits people of different biological sexes from sharing hotel rooms or other sleeping arrangements. It also requires public colleges and universities to offer students the option of living with same-sex roommates in dorms and other on-campus housing — a practice already common on most college campuses.
Schools and universities must comply with the law by the start of the 2026-2027 school year. Institutions that fail to comply could lose up to 25% of their state funding.
The law also allows people who believe a school or college permitted transgender or nonbinary people to use restrooms designated for the opposite sex to file civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages and attorneys’ fees for any alleged “injury.”
The Campaign for Southern Equality blasted the bill’s passage.
“This bill will do nothing to make our schools safer,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post. “Rather, it will make using the bathroom a difficult and even dangerous experience for trans and nonbinary youth, who are already at high risk of bullying and harassment.”
Jace Woodrum, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina and the affiliate’s first transgender leader, criticized the law for “making life harder for a small group of students who already face higher risks of bullying, harassment, and violence.”
“Our lawmakers have a responsibility to protect all students, including transgender youth,” Woodrum said in a statement. “If legislators were truly concerned about privacy and safety, they’d invest in stalls, privacy screens, and single-user facilities. Instead, they want to treat transgender youth like outcasts and force them to use portable toilets outside.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.