What happens when you're arrested for peeing while trans?https://www.queerty.com/what-happens-when-youre-arrested-for-peeing-while-trans-20251030 🔗Henry Giardina (30 Oct 2025)
Back in May, a trans man named Luca used a women's bathroom at a bar in South Carolina. The men's room didn't have a toilet, so Luca asked permission from the bar's owner to use the women's restroom, which he received.
But when a random intruder called him out for using the "wrong" restroom, Luca ended up being arrested, manhandled by police, pelted with slurs, and sent to a courtroom to appear before a judge.
After the incident, Luca was able to crowdsource the funds he needed to move to California, where he's planning on relocating next year.
However, because the court insisted that Luca's case go to trial, he's currently stuck in limbo—aka South Carolina—where he awaiting his court date. "I don't even have a date on that," he says. "I'm gonna give it about six months, and then I'm going to get out of here."
Not only did Luca have to have his rights attacked for using the bathroom state law requires he use, he's now forced to stay for months in a place where it's no longer safe for him to pee legally. All so he can go to trial for... peeing legally.
If it sounds Kafka-esque, that's because it is. Ever since trans people in bathrooms became a handy dog whistle and conservative talking point, we've seen several stories about ordinary people suddenly self-deputizing themselves as anti-trans bathroom police.
