Trans students made to use outdoor porta-potties as new bill signed in South Carolina
Trans students may be forced to use outdoor porta-potties if no single-occupancy toilets are available (Image: Getty Images)
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster has signed House Bill 4756, a “privacy” law that allows schools to treat outdoor porta-potties as an acceptable single-occupancy toilet option for trans students if no indoor single-user bathroom is available.
The Campaign for Southern Equality warned in an Instagram post that the measure could make going to the toilet “difficult and even dangerous” for trans and non-binary young people.
The bill, titled the South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act, requires multi-person bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities in public K-12 schools and public colleges be designated for use by one sex only. Sex is defined in the bill as “biological sex observed or verified at birth”, according to ABC Columbia.
The law allows trans students to use single-occupancy restrooms. If a school does not have one, it can designate porta-potties outside as a single-occupancy restroom instead.
Ahead of the signing, the Campaign for Southern Equality said: “This bill will do nothing to make our schools safer. Rather, it will make using the bathroom a difficult and even dangerous experience for trans and non-binary youth, who are extremely likely to be bullied and harassed when using the bathroom.”
What the law covers
Beyond toilets and changing rooms, the law also dictates sleeping arrangements on campus or school-sponsored overnight trips. It says students cannot be required to share sleeping quarters with “members of the opposite sex” unless they are family members.
Schools and institutions have until the start of the 2026-2027 academic year to implement the requirements. Those that fail to do so could end up with a 25% cut in state school funding.
Nancy Mace backs the bill
Republican US representative Nancy Mace praised the law in a statement, saying: “This is a commonsense law that protects our daughters in South Carolina’s schools and universities. Men do not belong in women’s bathrooms. Men do not belong in women’s locker rooms. South Carolina got this right.”
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