In Dead of Night, Georgia Lawmakers Sneak Through Legislation Allowing Discrimination Against Transgender Kids Playing School Sports – Human Rights Campaign
ATLANTA — Following the passage early this morning of Georgia House Bill 1084, legislation that creates an athletics committee with the authority to ban transgender youth from playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) — the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization — denounced the move as discriminatory, unnecessary and damaging to the state’s LGBTQ+ students.
“Everything about this legislation and the way it was passed demonstrates an intent by Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican legislative leaders to evade accountability for hurting Georgia’s transgender youth,” said Cathyrn Oakley, HRC’s State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel. “By amending this bill on the last day of the session to focus on transgender students, they prevented the people actually impacted from speaking out as to why this is wrong. By passing it after midnight, they evaded immediate scrutiny for taking a shameful vote. And by punting the decision to a newly created athletics committee, they get to pretend their hands are clean once specific, discriminatory policies are put into place.
“Make no mistake — there is no crisis with transgender youth playing sports in Georgia. Decades of experience in states across the country show that this is a non-issue. Self-serving politicians, catering to an extreme portion of their party’s base, are showing that they’re willing to harm vulnerable kids who just want to play with their friends. If Governor Kemp signs this bill, he will be marking himself once again as someone willing to harm a vulnerable LGBTQ+ population — in this case, children — to serve his own political ambitions.”
The legislation comes after a Utah bill was vetoed by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. In his veto statement, Cox wrote, “Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live.”
Another Republican governor, Eric Holcomb of Indiana, also vetoed a bill discriminating against transgender kids playing sports last month, citing a lack of evidence to justify the bill.
House Bill 1084 is the second attempt this year by Georgia Republican lawmakers to discriminate against transgender youth. In February, the Senate passed SB 435, which included an outright ban on transgender students playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity. That bill was never considered by the Georgia House of Representatives and is now defunct as the state’s annual legislative session concludes.
Strong Opposition to Discriminatory Attacks on LGBTQ+ Population
The latest PRRI data show that support for LGBTQ+ rights is on the rise in Georgia and nationwide: 76% of Georgians support nondiscrimination protections, and 59% of Georgians oppose refusal of service on religious grounds. Approximately eight in ten Americans (79%) favor laws that would protect LGBTQ+ people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing. This reflects an 11% increase in the proportion of Americans who support nondiscrimination protections since 2015 (71%).
Anti-transgender discrimination in sports is opposed by prominent advocates for women and girls in sports – such as the National Women’s Law Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, Women Leaders in College Sports, and others – which support trans-inclusive policies and oppose efforts to exclude transgender students from participating in sports. So do prominent female athletes including Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Cheryl Reeve.
LGBTQ+ kids have real threats and obstacles to overcome. 86% of LGBTQ+ youth report they have been targets of bullying, harassment, or assault at school. Studies have shown that bullying and harassment of LGBTQ+ youth contribute to high rates of absenteeism, dropout, adverse health consequences, and academic underachievement. When left unchecked, such bullying has led to dangerous situations for young people. Lawmakers shouldn’t be bullying trans kids.
A Campaign of Hate Cascading Across the Country
This year, statewide officials in Texas have tried to criminalize transition care for minors, and lawmakers in Alabama are on the verge of passing legislation to do so as well. In Florida, the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill stands to block teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people, further stigmatizing LGBTQ+ people and isolating LGBTQ+ kids if it becomes law. Iowa recently became the first state in the country that had passed statewide non-discrimination protections that include LGBTQ+ people to reverse course by prohibiting transgender women and girls from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. And in South Dakota, Gov. Noem proclaimed that it “makes me sad” to hear about high rates of depression among LGBTQ+ people in her state – just days after she signed the first anti-trans bill of 2022 into law.
While the sponsors of these pieces of legislation make disingenuous claims about what their bills will do, their supporters are revealing their true intentions. Advisers and staffers for Republican governors in Florida, Texas and South Dakota, plus a bill sponsor in Iowa, have made public comments this year laying bare that these bills are more about prejudice against transgender people than any real policy position.
Among the organizations supporting Senator Lee’s legislation are a litany of anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, including Southern Poverty Law Center designated hate groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Research Council. The work of these groups includes efforts to criminalize LGBTQ+ relationships, opposing settled law like marriage equality, and even opposing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Businesses, Advocacy Groups, and Athletes Oppose Anti-Trans Legislation
Nearly 200 major U.S. corporations have spoken out to oppose anti-transgender legislation being proposed in states across the country. Companies like Amazon, American Airlines, Apple, AT&T, AirBnB, Dell, Dow, Google, IBM, Lyft, Marriott, Microsoft, Nike, and Paypal have objected to these bills. Four of the largest U.S. food companies also condemned “dangerous, discriminatory legislation that serves as an attack on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender and nonbinary people,” and the Walton Family Foundation issued a statement expressing “alarm” at the trend of anti-transgender legislation that recently became law in Arkansas.
The nation’s leading child health and welfare groups representing more than 7 million youth-serving professionals and more than 1,000 child welfare organizations released an open letter calling for lawmakers in states across the country to oppose dozens of bills that target LGBTQ+ people, and transgender children in particular.
Nearly 550 college athletes have stood up to anti-transgender legislation by demanding the NCAA pull championships from states that have enacted anti-trans sports laws.
A poll conducted by the Human Rights Campaign & Hart Research Group revealed that, with respect to transgender youth participation in sports, the public’s strong inclination is on the side of fairness and equality for transgender student-athletes. 73% of voters agree that “sports are important in young people’s lives. Young transgender people should be allowed opportunities to participate in a way that is safe and comfortable for them.”
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.