Women's sports are theatened by states that allow transgender women to compete on women's teams, a group said. | Pixabay
Women's sports are theatened by states that allow transgender women to compete on women's teams, a group said. | Pixabay
The Georgia State Athletic Association plans to decide whether boys can participate in girls' sports after the state legislature declined to act on the question, Fox 5 reported.
The state Senate voted earlier to flatly ban transgender boys and girls from playing on school sports teams matching their gender identity, but House Speaker David Ralston had blocked that measure, the station reported.
According to Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Georgia Senate passed the “Save Girls Sports Act” in February, which would ban Georgia schools from competing against others that allow transgender athletes to play on girls’ sports teams. It would also require student-athletes to participate in sports according to the sex on their birth certificate.
The House blocked the bill, leaving the decision on transgender athletes to Georgia High School Athletics Association.
Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government Affairs for American Principles Project (APP) criticized the failure of the Georgia legislature to act on the issue.
" Women's sports are under serious threat in this country," he said. "Although there are many examples why, one need look no further than the recent NCAA women's swimming title won by Lia Thomas, a biological male who easily defeated the female competition. Such incidents are likely to increase unless lawmakers take action, which is why 15 states have already acted to defend a fair playing field for female athletes."
Last month, University of Pennsylvania transgender female swimmer Lia Thomas won the women's NCAA swimming championship in the 500-yard freestyle, NBC News reported. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed Thomas' participation in women's events as an effort to "destroy women's athletics."
According to Kake.com, several Republican-led states have recently established restrictions concerning transgender youth rights.
According to Transathlete.com, a website dedicated to advocating for transgender girls who wish to play high school sports on gender-affirming teams, Georgia is currently listed as a state that bans transgender and nonbinary athletes based on their birth certificate or sex assigned at birth. However, there is currently no ban in place.
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