ATLANTA – Georgia high school and college student-athletes born male should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports, a state Senate committee recommended Friday.
If adopted by the General Assembly’s Republican majorities, the recommendation would resolve a controversial issue that has been percolating under the Gold Dome for more than two years.
A bill introduced in the legislature in 2022 called for prohibiting transgender students born male from competing in most girls’ sports. Supporters said students who went through puberty as males would have unfair advantages in speed and strength over female participants.
But the measure ran into opposition from Democrats and transgender rights activists who argued such a policy would further stigmatize transgender students, who already feel isolated and suffer a much higher suicide rate than other students.
The General Assembly ended up essentially punting the issue by passing legislation giving jurisdiction over policies governing participation of transgender athletes in school sports to the Georgia High School Association (GHSA). The association’s executive committee voted unanimously in May 2022 to require transgender students to participate in school sports based on the gender identities on their birth certificates.
A nine-page report approved Friday by the Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sport recommended repealing that delegation of authority to the association and giving it back to the legislature.
“This is an issue that should be decided by the people’s elected representatives,” the report stated.
The report went on to recommend legislation prohibiting students born male from participating in women’s sports. As envisioned by the committee, the measure would apply to public high schools, colleges, and universities in Georgia, as well as private institutions that compete against public schools in sports.
The report also suggested requiring schools that host or sponsor sporting events to provide separate changing and dressing facilities for male and female athletes based on their biological sex at birth.
Five former elite-level college women swimmers testifying before the committee in August said they were traumatized when they were forced to share a locker room with Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete born male, during the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech.
The proposed legislation is likely to pass when Georgia lawmakers convene under the Gold Dome next month. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Senate, appointed the special committee and has endorsed the bill.
Likewise, House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, has pledged to make the issue a top priority for the 2025 legislative session.