(The Center Square) – The Georgia House of Representatives bill banning men from women’s sports also includes a provision that would fine educators who violate the rule and replace the word “gender” with “sex.”
The Riley Gaines Act would require K-12 schools and state colleges to provide for separate changing facilities and restrooms.
House Bill 267 has many of the components of Senate Bill 1. However, the House bill goes further with the addition of language changes and fines.
The change from “gender” to “sex” will affect a long list of state functions, including patient record systems and the list of registered voters.
The bill also defines “father” as a parent of the male sex and “mother” as a parent of the female sex. Males are defined as individuals who have “the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration, and utilization of sperm for fertilization, or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident.”
Female is “an individual who has, had, or will have the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration, and utilization of eggs for fertilization, or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident,” according to the bill.
Another provision of the bill would allow the Professional Standards Commission, which oversees certification and professional conduct for certified personnel in Georgia’s schools, to fine anyone who violates the provisions of the bill regarding athletics after an investigation. The fines are a minimum of $1,000 and could be levied on principals, superintendents and others who supervised the athletic event.
“Language really matters,” Chelsea Thompson, an attorney who helped draft the bill, said at a news conference hosted by House Speaker Jon Burns. “This bill is one of the strongest, if not the strongest bill now to hit the nation to protecting girl’s sports.”
Thompson is an attorney for the Frontline Policy Council, according to its website.
Gaines has spoken out since the 2022 competition in which she and other women competed against swimmer Lia Thomas, who swam for the Penn men’s team three years then switched to the women’s team.
Four women who competed with Gaines and Thomas at a Senate hearing last week said that not only competed with Thomas, but Thomas was allowed in the locker room. The women were forced to undress with Thomas, who was a “fully intact biological male,” one swimmer told the panel.
Rep. Josh Bonner, R-Fayetteville, the bill’s sponsor, said the bill has the backing of all members of the House Republican caucus. The bill is currently in the House hopper.
The Senate bill received a favorable recommendation from the Education and Youth Committee.