SC Senate proviso would ban transgender students’ bathroom choices at public schools

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Students in public schools would only be allowed to use bathrooms matching their gender assigned at birth, according to a proviso added to the state budget the Senate passed on Wednesday. This means transgender students across the Palmetto State would be forced to use showers, or changing room spaces, based on biological sex.

It’s still unclear whether it will remain as both the House and Senate will work out their differences.

“This is just a re-hash of the same thing; just another way for the freedom caucus to harass the LGBTQ community and, in particularly, transgender students,” said Ann Willbrand, board secretary for SC Equality.

The Student Physical Privacy Amendment would require schools that receive funding from the state to ensure public school restrooms and other spaces are designated for one sex.

Senator Wes Climer, R-York County, who introduced the proviso, feels it will help right a wrong that he’s seen statewide.

His concerns stem from an ongoing situation in his district at Rock Hill High School.

“This is to correct an immediate wrong in the Rock Hill School District, where there is an 18-year-old man inhabiting bathrooms and locker rooms with 14, 15, and 16-year-old girls, but then more broadly, to solve this problem for the entirety of the state,” Climer said.

On the contrary, Senator Tamieka Devine, D-Richland, feels this legislation will be the start of taking resources away from transgender students.

If this proviso remains in the final version of the budget, she worries it will impact the mental health of thousands.

“It does not allow the schools to work with young people,” Devine said, “It threatens school’s funding and I think, what you’ll find is, that you’ll have school districts and teachers having a lot of issues with children not feeling comfortable, and potentially bullying.”

If the proviso survives and remains in the final version of the budget, it will take effect on July 1, 2024.

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