The South Carolina Senate approved a bill that would restrict transgender students’ access to bathrooms and locker rooms, moving forward with a bill that reflects broader changes in how Republican-led states regulate transgender people’s daily lives and keeping pace with a growing number of Republican-led states adopting similar policies.
Stay up to date on LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate’s email newsletter.
The proposal passed on a 35-2 vote Monday, with two Democratic state senators voting against it. The state senate is composed of 34 members. republican party and 12 Democrats. The bill is now in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The bill would extend existing state regulations to both K-12 schools and public universities, requiring individuals to use multipurpose restrooms, locker rooms, and locker rooms based on their assigned sex at birth. Schools would be required to provide alternative options, such as single-person restrooms, for students who are unable or unwilling to comply. The bill would also make permanent policies already in place through the state budget and include an enforcement mechanism that could result in penalties, including cuts in state funding, for school districts that don’t comply.
This vote places South Carolina within a broader national pattern. Lawmakers, who have long focused on sports participation and gender-affirming care, are increasingly targeting everyday spaces such as bathrooms, dormitories and school facilities, rather than discussing gender identity.
related: Trans man says he was detained after using a women’s restroom in South Carolina
related: South Carolina sued by 13-year-old trans boy over bathroom rights
According to Supporters described the measure as a privacy measure, while opponents warned it would stigmatize transgender students and expose them to harassment and forced removal, the Greenville News reported on the bill’s passage.
South Carolina’s proposal comes as a growing number of states introduce bathroom restrictions. At least 21 states currently have some sort of law or policy that restricts transgender people’s access to restrooms based on their gender identity, according to a recent count. defender. Kansas, for example, enacted sweeping legislation this year that overrode the governor’s veto and extends restrictions to public places, sparking legal challenges.
In Idaho, lawmakers recently passed a bathroom restriction bill that goes beyond school policy and extends into criminal law. The measure would allow criminal charges against transgender people who use facilities that do not match their assigned gender at birth, and would increase penalties for repeat offenses. Law enforcement groups and other critics have warned that the policy would be difficult to enforce and could require invasive decisions about a person’s body or identity.
related:What’s up with Nancy Mace’s bathroom ban on transgender people?
related: U.S. Supreme Court sides with transgender students on bathroom use so far
South Carolina law includes limited exceptions, such as single-occupancy restrooms and emergencies. But advocates argue that such carve-outs do little to resolve what they call an impossible bind: to comply with the law and risk confrontation or avoid the facility altogether.
Democratic state Rep. John King told the Greenville News, “We begin the legislative session with a tone and attitude that despises transgender people.” “My concern is that we’re looking for problems that don’t even exist.”
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
