A Georgia Senate committee kicked off a new push by Republicans in the state to ban “transgender women from participating in women’s sports.” On Tuesday the committee heard testimony “from five former college swimmers who are suing the NCAA and Georgia Tech over a transgender woman’s participation in the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships.”
As reported, transgender participation in women’s sports roiled Georgia’s General Assembly in 2022, “when lawmakers passed a law letting the Georgia High School Association regulate transgender women’s participation in sports.” The association “banned participation by transgender women in sports events it sponsors.”
Some conservative politicians such as Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — a possible Republican contender for governor in 2026 — have said “that law doesn’t go far enough and want lawmakers to pass additional laws in 2025.” Political commentary asserts that with Jones’ current level of command over the Senate, “that means that whatever the committee finds, the Senate is likely to take further action in a year when many people will be positioning themselves for 2026 campaigns.”
Jones stated to the committee Tuesday: “We’re here to protect female athletes and that’s what we should be doing as legislators.” At the high school level, Jones advocated taking “the reins away from a private organization, from the Georgia High School Association, because as elected officials, that should be our duty. And we’re going to protect female sports at our state-run universities and public universities that we fund here in the state of Georgia.”
However, opponents assert that the committee’s “focus on the participation in the 2022 event by Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who swam for the University of Pennsylvania and won the 500-meter freestyle,” is misplaced and “doesn’t prove the need for legislation.”
Kate Smith believes trans women should be able to compete against biological women. Smith is the director of LGBTQI+ policy at what has been described as “the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress.” Smith posed the question: “If trans women have such a clear advantage in sports, why do we not see them winning many more championships and filling team rosters at the college level?”
As reported, at least “23 mostly Republican states have passed laws to restrict transgender women from participating in college and high school sports, and three more states have passed laws to ban participation only at the high school level, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a gay rights group.”
“Both Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal from Cumming, who is chairing the committee, and the former swimmers repeatedly took aim at Georgia Tech. The university hosted the 2022 championships, and the swimmers say the university shares blame for allowing Thomas to participate and share a locker room with other (female) swimmers.”
The NCAA has since revised its policy on transgender women’s participation, saying it will follow the rules of respective athletics federations. World Aquatics, the swimming governing body, banned transgender women who have been through male puberty from competing in women’s races. “That means Thomas wouldn’t be allowed to swim in NCAA events today.”
The issue may well be resolved by gritty politics rather than on the merits of the issue and on the physical harm inflicted by trans athletes on female athletes. “Measures restricting transgender women’s participation in sports probably could have passed Georgia’s conservative Senate this year. The key question is what the more moderate House is willing to agree to.”