This is a guest blog by Georgia WoLF member Amanda S. She writes here about the Save Girls' Sports Act in her state, one of over two dozen similar bills in state legislatures across the country.

Do you have a bill in your state? Take action by contacting your lawmakers using our form below.

summary

Several Georgia senators are sponsoring a bill in the current legislative session aimed at protecting girls’ rights to single-sex sports at their schools and colleges.

what does this bill do? A walkthrough

This bill:

• Adds a new subsection to the part of Georgia law dealing with education and preventing gender discrimination.

• Makes it unlawful for 1) public schools and 2) private schools who compete against public schools to have athletic programs that allow male students to participate in programs designated for female students.

• Defines gender as “a person’s biological sex and shall be solely recognized based on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

• Bars males from participating in interscholastic and intramural athletic programs designated for females. Is the activity designed to be co-ed? No problem!

• Provides a grievance process for anyone who feels a school or program is violating their rights protected by this act (i.e.: a male student is playing on a team designated for female students). 

  • Grievances are to be submitted to the designated Title IX coordinator for that school or school district. 

  • The Title IX coordinator will determine if there is a violation or not and can take action to terminate or adjust the program in violation. 

  • If the grievance is rejected, the complainant has the right to immediately appeal the decision to their local Board of Education.

• Does not override or violate the rights afforded to individuals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

• Applies to the University System of Georgia, which is the government agency that manages the 26 public universities in the state of Georgia and is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. This part of the bill:

  • adds a new code section stating that the term ‘sex’ used in this section refers “only to the biological distinction between male and female.”

  • mandates all intercollegiate athletic programs in the University System of Georgia which are subject to rules regarding eligibility restrictions in order to promote/ensure fair competition, shall make all determinations based on sex and NOT gender.

why this matters

The right to play sports is something women and girls had to fight to achieve not that many years ago, and yet we are currently facing challenges to safe, sex-segregated athletic opportunities. Due in large part to the passage of Title IX in the United States in 1972, the number of females accessing the chance to play sports increased dramatically. Title IX paved the way for equal access to sports in the face of sex discrimination and created avenues for federal funding to ensure girls benefitted from that access. 

This does not mean that co-ed sports shouldn’t exist or that girls and boys shouldn’t play together. On the contrary, international experts in player development say there can be benefits to children socializing, learning, and playing together in mixed-sex spaces for casual sports play. They do not, however, suggest that this is beneficial in a competition environment. Not having single-sex spaces to explore a sport can be a deterrent to girls’ participation.

When biological males are allowed to compete in sports leagues and programs designated for female athletes, women lose out on more than just championships or trophies. Girls lose safety, self-esteem, opportunities to compete, and playing time at an age where research shows sports have crucial benefits for growing girls in those areas and more. Young girls are less likely to play sports than their male peers, and the social role that a safe space away from boys plays a big role in whether or not a girl will elect to participate at this age. Teenage girls lose scholarship opportunities and an important outlet that has been shown to decrease risk-taking behaviors like drug use and unprotected sex, and increase mental health. An athletic hobby, if not career, that may have continued into her college and adult years could end in high school due to places being taken by male competitors who repeatedly outrun, outscore, and overpower their female counterparts. This can have a devastating impact on the educational opportunities afforded to girls. Boys already get 1.13 million more sport opportunities than girls.

Women’s professional sports do not pull in the viewers or dollars that men’s sports do. Must men demand to participate in sports for women in addition to their own? Instead of further disparaging young girls from skills and hobbies that boost their health and well-being, should we not provide girls every chance to experience the benefits of playing sports? Many parents express discomfort at their daughters having to compete against a male in their sport, especially in contact sports where the biological advantage of being male can mean more than just less time on the field - it can lead to higher risk of injuries and girls losing the desire to continue the sport at all.

We have seen biological men take Olympic spots away from women in high-profile incidents, such as Laurel Hubbard, ne Gavin Hubbard, who enjoyed the IOC’s support in competing as the first transgender identifying man in the Olympics. Not only was Hubbard twenty years older than his female competitors, his participation in the female weightlifting division in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics meant that 18-year old Roviel Detenamo of Nauru could not qualify for what would have been her first-ever Olympics. Regardless of Hubbard’s claims about not having an unfair advantage, the statistics say otherwise. 

This incident happened on the world stage, with millions of spectators aware of its occurrence. But in local cities and schools across the world, female student athletes are also having to contend with a rise in unfair competition from males. Some policies touted as being inclusive have been met with successful litigation in the interest of protecting girls’ sports. Connecticut’s controversial policy that devastated the dreams of several female high school track stars has been found in violation of Title IX. People are beginning to see the consequences of letting males self-identify their way into female sports, whether it plays out on the middle school soccer field, the high school track, or the internationally syndicated Olympic Games. The biological advantage enjoyed by able-bodied males has no place in women’s and girls’ sports.

take action - Does your state support female sports?

Legislation is being introduced across the United States to ensure the safety and equality of female sports. Spreading the word and advocating for the passage of proposed sports bills is an important action step that can be taken by anyone living in a state where these bills are being introduced. It’s more important than ever to send the message loud and clear to our elected officials: we support women’s and girls’ rights to play sports! 

You can contact your state and federal representatives and senators about this issue and tell them about specific bills like this one in your state below.