South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has signed the South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act into law. The law requires bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities in public K-12 schools and colleges to be designated by biological sex as defined at birth. Trans students are directed to single-occupancy restrooms.

If a school does not have an indoor single-occupancy restroom, the law explicitly permits outdoor porta-potties to count as a compliant alternative.

That provision should concern anyone who cares about student welfare in South Carolina's schools, regardless of their views on the broader bathroom debate. Singling out any group of students for outdoor porta-potty use is not a privacy protection. It is a stigma written into law. Trans and non-binary youth are already among the most vulnerable students in any school system. The Campaign for Southern Equality has warned that the law will make bathroom access "difficult and even dangerous" for those students, who face elevated risks of bullying and harassment.

The law also threatens schools with a 25% cut in state funding if they fail to comply by the start of the 2026-2027 academic year. But it does not require the state to fund the construction of indoor single-occupancy restrooms that would allow schools to comply humanely. The result is a mandate the state has not paid for, with porta-potties as the fallback.

We are calling on South Carolina lawmakers to repeal the porta-potty provision from HB 4756 immediately, to fund the construction of indoor single-occupancy restrooms in public schools before the 2026-2027 compliance deadline, to ensure trans and non-binary students have access to school environments free from targeting and harassment, and to request a federal civil rights review of whether the law's implementation complies with Title IX and equal protection requirements.

No child should have to walk outside to a porta-potty because of who they are. Sign this petition to demand South Carolina protect the dignity and safety of every student in its schools.