The Georgia State Senate has advanced a measure to ban biological males from participating in women’s sports across the state.
Senate Bill 1, the Fair and Safe Athletic Opportunities Act, is one of several transgender-related bills lawmakers could consider during the session.
Proponents say the legislation is based on legislative findings relating to the need to protect girls’ and women’s athletics and the work of the Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sports. Critics say it could harm the well-being of transgender children by banning them from participating in sports or using the bathroom, and that only 0.6% of children over the age of 13 identify as transgender.
“My heart breaks for the trans children who have to live in this moment, those who feel isolated and unsupported,” state Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Atlanta, said in a statement. “My heart also breaks for cis-gendered girls who will be questioned because of SB1. Girls will have to prove that they are, in fact, girls because they are judged and scrutinized for not quite living up to what a girl is supposed to look like.”
In the state House, leaders introduced the Riley Gaines Act, which would similarly bar biological males from competing on sports teams designated for girls and women at every level. Additionally, Senate Bill 39 would prevent any gender-affirming care procedures from being covered by the state health benefit plan or provided by healthcare facilities or physicians associated with the state.
