A 25-year-old trans man in South Carolina was detained and charged after using a women’s restroom at a local bar, despite following legal protocol and reportedly receiving permission to do so.
Luca Strobel had gone to the Sand Dollar Social Club in Folly Beach on May 16 to be a designated driver for his friend Caroline Frady, who was celebrating her birthday. Strobel, who has an “F” gender marker on his government-issued ID, tried using the men’s room but found it unusable; no stalls, no dividers, and no lock on the door. So, with alleged permission from a female staff member, he used the women’s restroom instead.
Luca Strobel, a 25-year-old trans man in South Carolina, was using the bathroom based upon his assigned at birth gender (which some states have laws demanding that trans people do) in Charleston, SC. He ended up being accosted and detained because of his appearance as a man. https://t.co/czmXV60aik
— Holy Bullies (@holybullies) May 30, 2025
“No women were present,” he later explained to Erin in the Morning, a trans news site.
But what happened next quickly spiraled into a disturbing confrontation. While Strobel was still inside the stall, a man, claiming to be the bar owner, entered and looked over the stall wall, spotting Strobel mid-use.
“They’re looking over the top of the stall at me without my clothes on,” Strobel recalled in a TikTok video. “They can fully see me naked other than me having my shirt on, and they just start screaming that there’s ‘a man’ in here.”
Strobel said he was then pushed out of the bar by the same man, who hurled slurs and called him a “f**king weirdo.” A female employee reportedly joined in with more anti-trans slurs. Outside, Strobel says the bar owner shoved him into a police officer, who immediately detained him.
Though Strobel maintains he was sober, cooperative, and causing no trouble, he claims police accused him of being drunk, combative, and even possessing drugs, none of which, he says, were true.
Luca Strobel was assaulted and then arrested in South Carolina bar—just for using the bathroom that matches their birth certificate.
Isn’t that what MAGA are constantly insisting they want the law to be? 🤔
This 8-minute video explains the full story in more detail. pic.twitter.com/8usiVoRDI1
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) May 29, 2025
He described a painful ordeal; being pushed against a brick wall multiple times, called “little girl,” handcuffed so tightly he lost feeling in his fingers, and yelled at to “stop resisting” while fully complying. His friend Caroline Frady, who was also detained, received the same charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
When officers returned his belongings, one officer reportedly said, “Here you go, sir. I mean, ma’am.” Strobel replied, “It’s sir, thank you.”
“I’m honestly in shock,” Strobel said. “My entire body hurts. I woke up the next day and couldn’t feel my fingers… I still have anxiety rash, just from thinking about it.”
Though South Carolina has no law banning trans people from using restrooms aligned with their ID, Strobel’s experience shows how fear, ignorance, or hostility can still turn a night out into a legal and emotional nightmare.
Strobel now plans to move to California, where he believes he’ll feel safer. He started a GoFundMe campaign to cover relocation expenses, writing: “As things get scarier for trans people and after this traumatizing experience, I am certain that I can no longer live here and feel safe.”
As of Thursday evening, he had raised over $5,100 of his $15,000 goal.
