The South Carolina House of Representatives is considering H. 4756, a sweeping facilities ban that would bar transgender students from accessing restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-separated spaces in a manner consistent with their gender identity. H. 4756 would apply to public schools and institutions of higher education, threatening significant financial penalties and substantial litigation against schools that support the basic needs of transgender students.
The National Women’s Law Center Action Fund submitted written testimony in opposition to H. 4756, which outlined how a facilities ban contradicts binding precedent from the Fourth Circuit—the federal court of appeals with jurisdiction over South Carolina that had previously found such bathroom bans violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantee and federal law in the 2020 Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board decision. NWLCAF’s testimony also highlights the harms of exclusionary policies, including the impacts of increased gender policing on all students, transgender and cisgender alike, which results in increased harassment and exclusion from school facilities. Read the testimony here.