Bathroom bans vs. legal safeguards: Connecticut and South Carolina take opposite approaches to LGBTQ+ students

For LGBTQ+ students, the state where they go to school for K-12 and college can determine whether they can use the bathroom matching their identity, play on the team that fits their identity, or be called by the name they've chosen. The divergence between Connecticut and South Carolina illustrates just how dramatically those answers vary depending on geography.

Federal research on what helps transgender students thrive shows that inclusive environments, access to affirming adults, and legal protections that signal their identities are recognized all reduce the rates of depression and suicidal ideation documented in the data.

As federal civil rights enforcement has receded, and Department of Education programs aimed at supporting transgender students are rescinded, states are filling the vacuum in opposite directions. The result is a country where the same student could have full legal protections in one state and face suspension for using the bathroom in another. That gap is growing, and the consequences are measured in the mental health and safety of students.

Why It Matters

LGBTQ+ young people are at higher risk than their peers for developing mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. They also face higher rates of contemplating, attempting, and dying by suicide.

Being LGBTQ+ does not cause mental health problems and is not caused by mental health problems. Rather, the increased risk stems from exposure to factors like rejection, bullying, discrimination, and violence. While acceptance of LGBTQ+ young people has grown in recent decades, the current political environment has caused many of them to feel significantly less secure.

A 2024 Trevor Project survey of 18,000 LGBTQ+ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 found:

90% said their well-being was negatively impacted by recent politics, and 53% said it was impacted a lot
66% reported feeling recent symptoms of anxiety
53% reported symptoms of depression
39% said they had seriously considered suicide in the past year
More than 1 in 10 (12%) said they had attempted suicide

These findings underscore that school policy is not merely an administrative matter — it is a public health issue. States that enact protective policies for transgender students are not just fulfilling a legal obligation; they are making a measurable difference in young people’s lives.

Connecticut: Legal Protections

Connecticut has been building legal protections for LGBTQ+ students for well over a decade. State law prohibits public schools from discriminating based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Public Act 11-55, passed in 2011, specifically outlawed discrimination based on gender identity in education, requiring schools to proactively create inclusive environments. The state's Department of Education has issued guidance reinforcing these protections at every level.

Connecticut's protections are not aspirational — they are enforceable. Schools that fail to accommodate transgender students face legal exposure, and students and families have real recourse.

In 2026, Connecticut went further, when Gov. Ned Lamont signed additional legislation expanding hate crime prosecutions targeting LGBTQ+ individuals.

K–12 Bathroom and Facility Access
Transgender students in Connecticut have the legal right to use restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities consistent with their gender identity. Schools may offer single-use, gender-neutral facilities as an option, but they cannot force or restrict transgender students to use them, as doing so would itself constitute discrimination.

Sports Participation
Connecticut allows transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity. This policy was challenged in federal court by cisgender female high school athletes, but the lawsuit was dismissed and that dismissal was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2022. The policy stands.

Pronouns and Names
The Connecticut Department of Education has directed schools that staff should address students by their chosen name and pronouns without requiring a legal name change or parental permission. Refusing to do so may constitute gender-based discrimination.

Sex Education
Connecticut public schools are not legally mandated to teach comprehensive sex education, though districts must provide instruction on human growth, development, and disease prevention. State law does not explicitly require curriculum to cover gender identity or sexual orientation. Parents retain the right to opt students out of specific sex education units.

South Carolina: Restrictions and Legal Battles

South Carolina has no statewide law explicitly protecting LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in schools. Instead, it has moved in the opposite direction, enacting restrictions that apply across K–12 public schools and public colleges and universities.

South Carolina is home to an estimated 30,000 LGBTQ+ youth ages 13–17. For transgender students in South Carolina schools, the risks of depression, bullying, and suicidal ideation documented nationally are compounded by a legal environment that denies them accommodations that research shows reduce those risks.

K–12 Bathroom and Facility Access
South Carolina law requires that all multi-occupancy school bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities be used only by individuals whose sex matches their sex assigned at birth. And, in 2026, Gov. Henry McMaster signed House Bill 4756 (the 'South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act'), extending this requirement to public colleges and universities as well. Schools that fail to enforce this face losing 25% of their state funding. Individuals may also sue educational institutions if they encounter someone of the opposite sex in a facility.

The law is actively contested in federal court. A 13-year-old transgender boy at a Berkeley County school was suspended for using the boys' restroom. He and his family filed suit, arguing the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the school to allow him to use the boys' bathroom while litigation continues. The Supreme Court declined to freeze that order, though it noted its decision was not a ruling on the legal merits.

Sports Participation
South Carolina's sports ban, the Save Women’s Sports Act, signed in 2022, requires transgender students to compete according to the gender listed on their birth certificates. Unlike the bathroom restriction, which previously applied only to K–12, the sports ban has always applied to both K–12 and public colleges.

Pronouns and Names
South Carolina has no state law or guidance requiring schools to use a student's chosen name or pronouns, and no prohibition on schools refusing to do so. Individual teachers and districts may choose to be accommodating, but transgender students have no enforceable right to be addressed according to their gender identity.

Sex Education
South Carolina historically had a state law that banned classroom discussion of same-sex relationships. A federal court struck down that provision in 2020 as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. Schools are no longer legally prohibited from discussing LGBTQ+ topics, but there is no affirmative requirement that they do so.

The Bottom Line

Connecticut is one of the strongest states in the nation for transgender student protections — students have a legal right to use facilities matching their gender identity, play on sports teams consistent with their identity, and be addressed by their chosen name and pronouns.

South Carolina is at the other end of the spectrum. It has no statewide anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students, requires that bathrooms and changing facilities be used according to sex assigned at birth in all public schools and colleges, and bans transgender students of all ages from competing in sports aligned with their gender identity. Active federal litigation in South Carolina means the situation could still shift, but the direction of state policy is restrictive.

Resources

South Carolina
South Carolina HB 4756 — Student Physical Privacy Act (SC State House)
CBS News - Supreme Court Lets Transgender Boy Use Boys’ School Bathroom in South Carolina
Davis Vanguard - South Carolina Law Targets Transgender and Nonbinary Students
NPR - South Carolina Becomes the Latest State to Enact a Transgender Sports Ban
ACLU of South Carolina - LGBTQ+ Rights
SC Equality - Understanding LGBTQ Legal Rights in South Carolina

Connecticut
Connecticut State Department of Education - Guidance on Civil Rights Protections for Transgender Students
GLAD Law - Students | Transgender Rights | Connecticut
Capitol Dispatch - Connecticut Expanded LGBTQ+ Protections as Other States Rolled Them Back
Pullman & Comley - Connecticut State Department of Education Issues New Transgender Student Guidance
The Trevor Project - Connecticut LGBTQ+ Youth State Report 2024

National / Data
MMWR / CDC - CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Transgender and Questioning Youth Health Disparities
The Trevor Project 2024 - National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health
The Child Mind Institute - Mental Health Challenges of LGBTQ+ Kids