The Georgia Senate, which is controlled by the Republican Party, voted on Thursday to remove transgender players from female sports teams. The vote was mostly along party lines.
Senate Bill 1 would stop public school and state college students from playing on teams that do not match the sex stated on their birth records. Private institutions that fight against them would be affected, too.
Public schools that don’t follow the rules could lose state funding and face legal actions.
Public schools are already experiencing cash problems from the federal government.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an order that prohibits transgender sports. His order to “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports” will stop government funding to schools that allow males to compete in women’s sports, saying it is important for safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.
The U.S. House of Representatives barely passed its own bill with the same goal last month. The U.S. Senate hasn’t looked at it yet.
On Thursday, Republican state senators said that a state rule is necessary because of the “male advantage” in sports.
“Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, who supports SB 1, said that if there are no rules keeping men out of women’s sports, men would win all the major sports events.”
Sen. Brandon Beach, a Republican from Alpharetta, stated that it makes “common sense” for boys and girls not to fight against each other in sports.
Democrats said that Republicans are using the problem in a selfish and calculated way.
They said that transgender people make up a small part of the community and do not pose a real threat to female athletes, especially young children.
“Why are you turning transgender girls into super girls who will win at everything?” asked Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones II, D-Augusta. “They just want to have fun.” They just want to join in. Have you ever considered that?
Republican lawmakers have often mentioned a 2022 NCAA swim meet at Georgia Tech where a transgender woman, who was born male, won most of the women’s races.
A law passed by the General Assembly in 2022 allows state sports groups to ban transgender athletes, which has reduced these instances. However, Republicans believe another law is still necessary.
Democrats have made fun of their Republican opponents about fairness by proposing their own fairness laws.
There are proposed laws in the state House of Representatives and Senate that aim to ensure fair funding for girls’ sports teams in schools. They tried and failed to change SB 1 to include that rule, and then criticized Republicans for voting against it.
Sen. Kim Jackson from Stone Mountain, who helped write the failed proposal, said, “My colleagues don’t really care about making girls’ sports equal.”
SB 1 passed 35-17, with two Democrats crossing the aisle to support the bill.
The plan is now moving to the state House, where Republican leaders have their own bill on this topic called House Bill 267.
The backing from GOP leaders in both houses suggests that something is likely to be approved on this problem this year. Georgia would then join over twenty states that do not allow transgender players to compete in school sports.
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