Georgia has become the latest state to codify discrimination against transgender student athletes into law, despite no trans students competing in the state.

On Monday, April 28, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed S.B. 1, also known as the “Riley Gaines Act” — named after the collegiate swimmer who became a transphobic activist after she tied for fifth place with trans swimmer Lia Thomas. The new law, an amendment of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, requires Georgia K-12 schools and universities to establish sex segregated sports teams and bans trans athletes from competing on teams or accessing bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.

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The law also removes language barring discrimination on the basis of “gender” in school sports, and strikes the word “gender” throughout Title 20, replacing it with “sex,” which it defines as “an individual’s biological sex, either male or female” which “can be observed or clinically verified at or before birth and in no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.”

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While the law allows any student to compete on coed teams, it does not require schools to establish such teams. As GLAAD notes, the law effectively bars trans student-athletes in Georgia from participating in sports.

The Georgia General Assembly passed the bill, which incorporated language from a previous state House bill, on March 31. No transgender student athletes currently participating in school sports in the state, according to GLAAD.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis warned that the law not only discriminates against trans students, it also places “a target on cisgender girls who don’t fit neatly into societal expectations of gender,” potentially subjecting them to invasive and traumatizing speculation about their gender.  

As GLAAD has reported, rather than protecting cis women and girls, anti-trans sports bans often lead to harassment and baseless accusations that female athletes are trans.

Georgia Equality executive director Jeff Graham echoed Ellis’s concerns, adding that intersex students could also face similar challenges under the new law.

“We know that S.B. 1 will likely be weaponized against students—specifically as it relates to intersex individuals—but it could also be used against cisgender students who are accused of being transgender,” Graham said. “Anyone who loses can throw a tantrum, bring a lawsuit, or bully the champion simply for being deemed ‘too good’ at their sport or for not meeting the stereotypes of what a girl should look like.”

While the law stipulates that it does not authorize schools “to verify or confirm a student’s sex through visual inspection of such student’s external sex organs for purposes of participation in competitions,” it does “not prohibit reliance on medical records or other standard school medical procedures to verify or confirm a student’s sex.”

Such verification measures would not only be invasive for students, they could also be costly for Georgia taxpayers. GLAAD cites recent research from the Inclusion Project that found that such verification measures could cost upwards of $15,000 per athlete, depending on what tests are required and whether results are disputed.

“Despite many Georgians’ struggle with a high cost of living, healthcare access, and many other pressing issues, it is telling that leadership in the House and Senate chose to make this their number one priority,” Graham added.

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