A Rock Hill, South Carolina school board member recently proposed a new policy following a budget provision that would require transgender students to use bathrooms and changing rooms based on their biological sex.
The Student Physical Privacy Amendment (H3477) enforces schools that receive funding from the state to ensure public school restrooms and other spaces – like Physical Education locker and changing rooms – be utilized only by individuals presenting in their sex assigned at birth.
Senator Wes Climer introduced the provision, saying he feels “it will help right a wrong that he’s seen statewide.”
During Climer’s proposal he refers to one specific student who is a transgender female as being an “18-year-old man.”
“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,” Climer said. “But then more broadly, to solve this problem for the entirety of the state,” he added.
Senator Tamieka Devine objects to the provision and fears this legislation will create long standing barriers between transgender students and necessary resources. She said she fears this provision will negatively impact the mental health of this population, which are literally thousands in number.
“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 provision survives and remains in the final version of the budget, it will take effect on July 1, 2024.
While waiting for the provision’s final decision by lawmakers to be made, Rock Hill school board Vice Chair Peter Nosal proposed that a policy be put in place requiring students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth.
“It was brought to my attention that we have a boy, or boys, using the girls’ bathroom at Rock Hill High School,” Nosal said at the board meeting. He cited the same individual student that Senator Climer mentioned during his proposal on the senate floor.
In response to Nosal’s proposal, retired Rock Hill pediatrician Dr. Martha Edwards expressed concerns over Nosal’s proposal at the board meeting, noting that, “she’s never had an encounter with a child who came in due to being harmed by a transgender person.”
Nosal objected to Edwards’ comments and asked the pediatrician where she received her medical degrees.
Dr. Edwards said that as a pediatrician, she takes the role of advocating for children very seriously, especially when it relates to things like politics where they don’t really have a voice.
“Children don’t really have a voice in politics,” Edwards said. “They can’t vote, so it’s kind of up to adults when we’re making policies.”
During her career Edwards has followed some children who are in the LGBTQ community, and said she’s watched them struggle with certain issues related to their identity in terms of gender and sexuality.
“In order to avoid singling out and causing harm to a small group of students who are already significantly struggling, I think it’s best we trust the administrators and teachers that we have hired to serve all our students,” said Edwards.
School Board Chair Helena Miller said if the budget provision is passed Nosal’s proposal for a policy won’t be necessary. In this scenario, transgender students across the Palmetto state would be forced to use bathrooms, showers and changing room spaces based on their sex assigned at birth.