South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has signed House Bill 4756, a so-called “privacy” law that allows schools to treat outdoor porta-potties as an acceptable single-occupancy toilet option for transgender students if no indoor single-user bathroom is available.
The Campaign for Southern Equality warned 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 to be designated for use by one sex only.
According to ABC Columbia, sex is defined in the bill as “biological sex observed or verified at birth”.
Under the law, transgender students may use single-occupancy restrooms. However, if a school does not have one available, it can designate outdoor porta-potties as a single-occupancy restroom option 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 bathrooms and changing rooms, the law also covers sleeping arrangements on campus and during school-sponsored overnight trips.
It states that 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 new requirements.
Those that fail to comply could face a 25% cut in state school funding.
Nancy Mace praises the law
Republican US representative Nancy Mace praised the legislation, calling it a “commonsense law”.
“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.”
The law is part of a wider wave of Republican-backed measures across the United States targeting transgender students’ access to bathrooms, locker rooms, sports teams and gender-affirming support in schools.
For LGBTQ+ advocates, the inclusion of outdoor porta-potties as an acceptable option has intensified concerns that trans and non-binary students could be singled out, isolated or placed at greater risk of harassment.
