Supreme Court Lets Girl Use Boys’ Restroom

The Supreme Court moved Wednesday to allow a female identifying as male to use a male restroom while her case is heard.

The one-page unsigned order keeps South Carolina from enforcing a law requiring public school students to use restrooms aligning with their sex. 

The law, enacted as part of South Carolina’s 2024-2025 budget bill and reincorporated into its 2025-2026 bill, says sex is “determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.”

That definition keeps students who identify as “transgender” from using restrooms aligning with their “gender identity.”

Under that law, in 2024, a female student identifying as “transgender” was suspended from a South Carolina school for using a male restroom. Her parents pulled her out of school for that year but then opted to have her return in-person for the 2025-2026 school year.

Then, in August, the student, known as John Doe, took South Carolina to court, arguing the law was unconstitutional and violated federal civil rights law. 

The federal district court paused her case, saying it wanted to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J., a case on males participating in girls’ sports. 

But on appeal, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to resume Doe’s case and blocked South Carolina from enforcing its law. The court agreed with Doe that the law likely violated civil rights law and the Constitution’s equal protection clause, and it said Doe would suffer “irreparable harm” if South Carolina enforced the law.

On Aug. 26, South Carolina appealed that enforcement block to the Supreme Court in an application totaling over 400 pages, including 347 pages of supplemental information, some of which was redacted.

“This case implicates a question fraught with emotions and differing perspectives,” South Carolina wrote. “That is all the more reason to defer to state lawmakers pending appeal.”

But in its Wednesday order, the Supreme Court rejected that appeal, ruling to uphold the block on enforcement while the 4th Circuit considers Doe’s case.

The high court said its decision is “not a ruling on the merits of the legal issues,” but is “based on the standards applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court.”

Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas would have granted South Carolina’s request to enforce the law, the order said.

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