Transgender students would be banned from preferred bathroom under SC Senate proviso
Biological girls and boys can not enter the opposite sex’s bathroom in public schools under a new S.C. state Senate proviso that passed Wednesday. This means transgender students in South Carolina could be prohibited from using bath, locker or changing rooms that align with their gender identity.
Democratic state Sen. Tameika Devine, D-Richland, along with multiple other Democrats, objected to the measure, attached to the $13.8 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The “Student Physical Privacy” amendment would require school districts who received funding from the state to ensure multioccupancy public school restrooms and changing facilities would be designated for — and used by — only by members of one sex. The bill defines sex as the person’s biological gender at birth. The amendment requires the school provide members with “privacy” from the other gender in each designated restroom and changing facility, which could include locker rooms, showers, etc.
The proviso would last for a year after the start date in July, if the budget is adopted by the House.
Senator Wes Climer, R-York, who proposed the amendment to the budget, said he was surprised he had to be up there talking about it.
“I find it baffling that we’re standing here having this conversation,” Climer said.
Climer then said there were “men,” referring to a transgender woman, using the women’s locker room, and cited one example at Rock Hill high school.
The legislation mirrors similar bills that haven’t passed the House, one of which was sponsored by state Rep. April Cromer, R-Anderson.
“This is common sense legislation — boys are boys, girls are girls, and you have to use the bathroom and locker room that lines up with your gender,” Cromer told The State in December. “This bill isn’t aimed to punish a group that is clearly struggling with their mental health. It is to protect young girls from sharing a locker room with their fully grown male coach, which we saw in Pennsylvania.”
No South Carolina law requires school districts to force transgender students to use bathrooms of their sex at birth.
While the proviso was championedabout keeping students “safe,” opponents say it does the opposite for transgender and non-binary students.
“Trans students are a part of our school communities, and like other students, they’re just there to learn, graduate and prepare for their future,” Chase Glenn, Executive Director of Alliance for Full Acceptance said. “They need to be able to use the restroom and changing rooms that match the gender they live every day without being signaled out for discrimination and harassment. Point blank, this proviso puts transgender students in harm’s way and does nothing to create safer schools in our state.”
Anti-transgender legislation has been a frequent topic in the 2024 session. Legislators have made efforts to ban puberty blocking drugs, children and teens under 18 from transitioning and not allowing “men in women’s sports.”
Thursday, the Senate set a motion for special order on H. 4624, dubbed as the “Help not Harm” bill. The legislation, which passed the House on Jan. 17, would prohibit anyone under 18 from receiving gender transition surgery or any form of puberty blocking drugs. The Senate will most likely begin debate Tuesday.
A school district that violates any portion of the provision would be penalized twenty-five percent of the funds given to the district by the state to support the school district’s operations.
