Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has made it illegal for trans student-athletes to play on school-sponsored sports teams to tailor their gender identity.
The law sponsored by state Sen. Greg Drezal (R-Cumming) requires schools to designate sports teams as male, female, or co-existent, and requires separate locker rooms, toilets and sleep facilities for men and women at athletic events.
All athletes should only play on a team that fits the sex assigned at birth, except for coedical sports leagues where both men and women can compete.
However, the bill does not explicitly require schools to provide students with coeducational sports opportunities.
The measure does not allow schools to verify the gender of students through visual inspection of students’ genitals.
However, schools may use medical records, birth records, or vaguely defined “standard school medical procedures” to verify the gender of an athlete.
It is unclear whether these “standard procedures” include chromosomal or other genetic testing.
According to research from Inclusion ProjectGenetic testing may cost $10,000 per athlete, depending on the test ordered.
Chromosomal testing costs between $1,000 and $2,500 per athlete. For dispute cases where athletes must appeal the award or submit an additional test, the cost can be greater than $15,000 per athlete.
It is unclear whether such costs will be handled by the athlete and their parents, or whether they will be passed on to Georgia taxpayers.
The newly imposed ban coincides with the Trump administration’s efforts to ban trans athletes from participating in women’s sports. This includes executive orders that threaten to withdraw federal funds except for explicit policies that exclude trans-athletes from competition.
The Georgia High School Association and the NCAA both have already banned trans athletes from competing with women’s sports teams.
Opponents of the bill allege unfairly elect trans people to exclude them from school-sponsored activities.
Some even suggest that by allowing rival coaches to challenge athlete eligibility and deliberately stand by the sidelines from matches and games, the bill will even be weaponized against cisgender female athletes who do not comply with dresses and grooming in gender norms and stereotypical styles.
“We know that [the bill] Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham said: Georgia Recorder. “Anyone who loses can throw a tantrum, file a lawsuit, or bully a champion.
Bentley Hudgins, the state director of the Human Rights Campaign, denounced supporters of hypocrisy and impure motive bills, pointing to Republican lawmakers breaking democratic laws that sought to equal funding for women and girls’ sports.
“Instead of dealing with the real problems young women and girls face on the arena, they chose to bully trans kids and harm all the girls,” Hudgins said. “Their absurd attacks on children are tired and no one should help.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
