Ga. lawmakers consider transgender sports participation issues

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Georgia Senate Protecting Women’s Sports study committee met on Thursday.

Members of the committee, including Senator Clint Dixon, are seriously considering an all-out ban on transgender participation in youth sports.

Dixon sponsored a bill last year and plans to bring another bill next year.

“We have got to protect women’s sports. They’ve fought for years to be able to play. I still stand there today and I think it’s something we need to move forward with,” said Dixon.

More than half of states have passed legislation banning or restricting who can participate in sports.

The committee began meeting several months ago. They’ve heard testimony from collegiate athletes, legal advisors, and parents both for and against a ban.

Kim Snyder testified her transgender daughter began expressing gender dysphoria at age four and transitioned in third grade.

She says her child’s mental health suffers at the implication that she is dangerous to other athletes.

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“To suggest cisgender girls need to be protected from my child, my nonathletic, no-hand-eye coordination theater kid, but who does want to join the intramural team because that is where her friends are,” said Snyder.

Woodstock mom Lisa Blankenship testified that her daughter’s collegiate swim career at Roanoke College was tainted when a transgender woman joined their team.

“This is not a transgender but a fairness in women’s sports issue,” said Blankenship.

Blankenship’s daughter Katie and a handful of her teammates joined a lawsuit against the NCAA.

The lawsuit is led by former University of Kentucky Swimmer Riley Gaines.

The lawsuit was filed in March against the NCAA, arguing that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports is a violation of Title IX protections.

The committee’s chair Greg Dolezal said he planned to review the testimony over the next several weeks.

The committee report will be made available for all of the members of the Georgia Senate.

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