AP

Georgia high school athletic group bans transgender athletes

May 4, 2022, 1:46 AM | Updated: 1:47 pm

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp laughs with state Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller and others as he si...

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp laughs with state Senate President Pro Tem Butch Miller and others as he signs education bills on Thursday, April 28, 2022 in Cumming, Ga. Kemp has been using a post-session bill signing tour to enhance his position in the May 24 Republican primary for governor against former U.S. Sen. David Perdue and others. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

(AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

ATLANTA (AP) — The main athletic association for Georgia high schools voted Wednesday to ban transgender boys and girls from playing on the school sports teams matching their gender identity, saying instead that students must play on teams that match the sex listed on their birth certificates at birth.

The Georgia High School Association’s executive committee, meeting in Thomaston, voted unanimously for the change. It will take effect for the next school year, spokesperson Steve Figueroa said.

Proponents of the ban say transgender girls have an unfair advantage because they were born as stronger males and warn that those born as girls could be denied places on the team or on the podium if playing against transgender girls.

“Everyone should have an opportunity to participate, but the field of play should be fair,” said Cole Muzio, president of the conservative Frontline Policy Council, which lobbied for the action. “GHSA’s action today recognizes science, reflects reality and restores fairness.”

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, running for reelection, embraced a ban. When he signed a bill last week reiterating GHSA’s power to ban transgender athletes, Kemp said he wanted to “protect fairness in school sports.”

Opponents said excluding transgender children would send a harmful message to a group that’s already vulnerable to suicide or harming themselves.

“To these very vulnerable trans kids who do appear to have substantial mental health issues, they will receive this as a message of rejection,” said state Sen. Sally Harrell, an Atlanta Democrat and the mother of a transgender child.

At least 12 Republican-led states have passed laws banning transgender women or girls in sports. Other GOP-led states are considering such bans. Some other states, such as Texas, have banned transgender girls through athletic association policies, as Georgia did.

From 2016 until now, the Georgia association allowed individual schools and school boards to decide what teams transgender students could play on. The association includes public schools and some private schools. GHSA Executive Director Robin Hines said the change just reverts back to the birth certificate rule that existed “forever” before 2016.

“This is focusing on athletic equity and competitive balance,” Hines said.

It’s unclear if any transgender students were participating in sports, though. Proponents of a ban listed no specific examples. Hines said he’s been told that a few transgender athletes have run in boys cross-country, but said the association does not formally track the issue.

The spotlight swung to GHSA after Georgia lawmakers, unable to agree on a law banning transgender students from playing sports matching their gender identity, passed House Bill 1084 reiterating GHSA’s existing power to regulate the issue.

The last-minute deal was reached after Kemp prodded lawmakers to act on the final night of Georgia’s legislative session. The passage of the bill was so rushed that many lawmakers didn’t have copies of the text and didn’t know what they were voting on.

Opponents said they were surprised that the association acted Wednesday without study, pointing to language in the bill that had seemed to call for a study committee. They said they were open to some kind of regulation, but opposed an outright ban.

“Their actions, to move so hastily and without consideration of the harms that this will do, without actually researching the complexities and nuances of this issue, will ultimately hurt kids throughout Georgia,” said Jeff Graham, the executive director of Georgia Equality, a group that advocates for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Graham suggested that some public school districts whose representatives voted for their policy were defying their own policies that are more welcoming to transgender students. Opponents also warned that a ban could violate Title IX of federal education law prohibiting sex discrimination, an executive order signed by Democratic President Joe Biden that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere, as well as rulings by federal courts.

Republican House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge had blocked putting the ban in law, but agreed to the compromise. He told reporters moments after the bill passed that he didn’t want transgender children “targeted,” and planned to tell GHSA as much.

However, Ralston spokesperson Kaleb McMichen said Wednesday that the House Speaker hadn’t talked to the association about the subject.

“We don’t have a comment on GHSA’s decision — it was theirs to make,” McMichen said.

___

Follow Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Georgia high school athletic group bans transgender athletes