ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – After hours of debating, members of the Georgia House voted to keep transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

House Bill 267 would ban transgender female athletes from competing in sports with people assigned female at birth. It mandates transgender girls use separate bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers.

It’s named the Riley Gaines Act after a University of Kentucky swimmer who competed for an NCAA championship on Georgia Tech’s campus and tied with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Gaines then sued the University System of Georgia in state court, alleging that allowing Thomas to compete violated her Title IX rights.

Republicans argued people assigned male at birth have physiological advantages and that female athletes need protection.

“My daughter deserves a safe space, she deserves it,” said Rep. Brad Thomas.

The Georgia High School Association already bans transgender students from girls’ sports participation, but Republican leaders insist the ban needs to be enshrined in law and applied to colleges and universities as well. Laws restricting sports participation for transgender students have passed in 25 other states.

“Female athletes deserve fair competition and that means the chance to maintain the women’s divisions distinct from men’s categories,” said Republican Rep. Josh Bonner of Fayetteville, the bill’s sponsor.

The House bill, heavily influenced by a Christian conservative group called Frontline Policy, replaces most references to “gender” in state law with the word “sex.”

Democratic Rep. Karla Drenner of Avondale Estates called the bill a “calculated, dangerous, deeply discriminatory piece of legislation that goes far beyond the realm of athletics.”

“Let’s call this the erasure of transgender Georgians act today,” said Drenner, who was the first openly LGBTQ+ member of the legislature when she was elected in 2000.

It would have originally removed gender from the hate crimes law, which protects against crimes motivated by bias against someone’s sex or gender. Democrats warned that could make it hard to prosecute hate crimes against transgender people, with House Democratic Caucus Leader Tanya Miller saying it could result in “open season” on transgender Georgians.

Democrats came to the well to speak against the bill, not to sway the opinions of lawmakers in the room, but to show solidarity for the LGBTQ-plus community.

“They’re not weird, this bill is weird,” said Rep. Park Cannon.

Bella Bautista will be the first openly transgender woman to compete for Miss Georgia. While she is preparing for her dream role, she watched as lawmakers voted on the bill.

“Is this what you’re so afraid of? This is the big, scary trans athlete that is going into these locker rooms, playing sports, dominating, and coming for the world?,” said Bautista. “In reality, we’re just normal people trying to be a part of society. Being a cheerleader makes me happy. Being able to serve as captain and be there for my girls, makes me happy.”

Georgia Equality director Jeff Graham said he wasn’t surprised. He said the bill was not vetted enough and opens the state up for discrimination lawsuits.

“The state of Georgia has never won a lawsuit. They have always had to defend themselves and they have never won. It has cost the taxpayers over $4.1 million to defend the indefensible. Discrimination is wrong,” said Graham.

The bill now heads to the Georgia Senate for a vote, where it will likely pass.

Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.