New GA Law Forbids Transgender Students Born Male From Female Sports Teams

ATLANTA, GA — Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed a large education legislation package, which includes a new law that keeps males and females from competing on teams of the opposite gender.

Senate Bill 1 was among seven pieces of legislation that Kemp signed into law, according to his office. SB1 "prohibits both males and females from competing on teams designated for the opposite gender and requires multiple occupancy restrooms, changing areas and sleeping quarters be designated for use exclusively by one gender."

The law, which was sponsored by Sen. Greg Dolezal and restricts transgender girls from competing on girls sports teams, comes amid national controversy surrounding the topic.

“We recognize both biologically, anecdotally, and statistically, that there’s an inherent male advantage when it comes to sports and we want to create a boundary around female sport that excludes that male advantage from being in female sport,” Dolezal said in a WABE Atlanta NPR report, which stated schools that break the law could bear a loss of funding.

Those who opposed SB 1 believed it was based on "inaccurate stereotypes," WABE reported.

In February, the White House proclaimed that men competing in women's sports were dangerous and unfair to women.

The Trump administration pulled back its funding of "educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy."

The administration enacted a policy that resisted males competing in women's sports.

Other laws newly signed on Monday in Georgia focused on school safety and educator resources.

"As the parents of three daughters, Marty and I know just how important it is to keep our children safe and to give them the best possible start in life. That's why I'm proud to sign these bills that will further safeguard our classrooms, both from those with violent intentions and from out-of-touch political agendas," Kemp said in a news release.

"Girls should not have to share a playing field, a restroom or a locker room with boys and vice versa, and the commonsense legislation I signed today is about what is fair and safe for our children. I want to thank the members of the General Assembly for putting the well-being of our students over politics. Like Marty and me, they want to protect their daughters and sons, they want them to grow up and compete in a fair environment, and they want their children to know that political agendas won’t dictate their lives."

Here are all the education laws Kemp signed Monday:

• SB 1, sponsored by Sen. Greg Dolezal and carried in the House by Rep. Josh Bonner: prohibits both males and females from competing on teams designated for the opposite gender and requires multiple occupancy restrooms, changing areas, and sleeping quarters be designated for use exclusively by one gender.
• HB 81, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard and carried by Sen. Larry Walker in the Senate: establishes an interstate compact for school psychologists, helping ease the burden on these essential employees in our schools.
• HB 307, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard and carried by Sen. Billy Hickman in the Senate: builds on the work of the Georgia Early Literacy Act by consolidating existing statutory requirements on dyslexia screening so that we can reach students earlier and get them the assistance they need.
• HB 235, sponsored by Rep. Rick Townsend and carried in the Senate by Mike Hodges: entitles public school employees and postsecondary education employees to receive a leave of absence for donation of bone marrow or organs.
• SB 82, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon and carried by Rep. Scott Hilton in the House, incentivizes local boards of education to approve charter school petitions while preventing school systems from unfairly attempting to shutter these school options.
• SB 123, sponsored by President Pro Tem John Kennedy and carried by Rep. Matt Dubnik in the House: requires school systems with chronic absenteeism rates of 10 percent or more to establish an attendance review team to determine the underlying causes of that issue.
• HB 268, sponsored by Rep. Holt Persinger and carried by Sen. Bill Cowsert in the Senate: requires schools to have up-to-date mapping and mobile panic alert systems, requires student records be transferred within five school business days so potential dangers can be addressed quickly, provides for a Student Advocacy Specialist grant program to reimburse districts for hiring said position, requires local boards to offer an anonymous reporting program, and creates the offenses of “terroristic threat of a school” and “terroristic act upon a school.”