South Carolina

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Find Your State

Know the laws in your state that protect LGBT people and people living with HIV.

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Workplace

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Does state law protect employees in the private sector from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

Does state law protect employees in the private sector from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or gender expression?

Does state law expressly protect employees of state and local governments from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation?

Does state law expressly protect employees of state and local governments from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and/or gender expression?

See S.C. Code Ann. § 1-13-80 (2001)

All government employees are protected by the U.S. Constitution against irrational discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In addition, some measure of protection already exists under Title VII based on gender, which has been held to include gender identity and expression.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and several courts have interpreted Title VII to protect LGBT employees. Lambda Legal maintains that the EEOC adjudications regarding Title VII’s coverage should supersede contrary authority that exists in some federal circuits.

HIV & Healthcare

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Does the state explicitly ban transgender exclusions in health insurance?

Does the state have laws that may be used to fight against health care discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity?

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Does this state have an HIV criminalization law?

YES, South Carolina has a criminal law that punishes people with an HIV diagnosis specifically for nondisclosure of HIV status prior to sexual conduct. A violation of this statute is classified as a felony.

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Has there been at least one HIV-based criminal prosecution—brought under an HIV-specific criminal law or a general criminal law—in this state in recent years?

YES, in recent years, there has been at least one criminal prosecution for HIV nondisclosure in South Carolina.

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Does this state have laws that criminalize or enhance the penalties for biting, spitting and/or throwing bodily fluids or substances (such as urine or excrement) if a person has been diagnosed with HIV?

YES, South Carolina also has laws that criminalize or enhance penalties for biting, spitting and/or throwing bodily fluids or substances (such as urine or excrement) if a person has been diagnosed with HIV, despite the fact that none of these activities presents any real risk of HIV transmission. In South Carolina, these laws only apply in the correctional setting.

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Does this state have criminal laws addressing HIV+ sex workers and/or HIV+ patrons of sex workers?

NO, South Carolina does not have laws that enhance penalties for HIV-positive people involved in commercial sexual transactions, but that does not mean that a prosecutor could not argue for an enhanced sentence in such a situation based on the defendant’s HIV-positive status, if the prosecutor has access to that information, or attempt to bring separate charges under an HIV-specific nondisclosure statute or the general criminal laws.

Parenting

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Who may adopt?

Any person. SC Laws § 20-7-1680.

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Second-parent adoptions:

May be granted in some jurisdictions. No appellate decisions. Results likely vary by county and by judge. Anyone considering petitioning for a second parent adoption should contact, or have their counsel contact, Lambda Legal.

Post-Obergefell, it seems that S.C. Code Ann. 63-9-1110 may allow second parent adoptions: "Any person may adopt his spouse's child, and any person may adopt a child to whom he is related by blood or marriage."

Conservative legal climate but some favorable appellate decisions on child custody or visitation.