Georgia lawmakers pass on transgender sports bill

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) -Georgia lawmakers passed House Bill 1084 Monday night, and transgender sports players were a part of that bill.

However, lawmakers left the decision on whether to allow transgender girls to play on girls’ teams up to the Georgia High School Association.

Bill Yearta, a Republican state representative who lives in Sylvester, said the house wants to do more research on the issue.

“It creates an athletic oversight committee to look at that issue and determine if transgender individuals should be able to participate in high school sports with the gender they identify with,” Yearta said.

He added that this bill is not an attack on transgender youth, but rather focuses on making sure that everything is fair for all who are competing.

Freddie Powell Sims, Democrat senator in District 12, said she also believes there needs to be more research on the issue.

“The Georgia High School Association has memberships, and those members would be the high schools. Those high schools are a part of the association. They’ve been confronted with these types of issues for a while, but again, are we far enough along in the physical mental science of dealing with the youth to make it safe for them to become competitors?” Sims said. “So right now, we need to leave it up to those individuals like the high school association that deals with young people all of the time.”

Sims also said she believes it is ultimately up to the parents of both trans and non-trans athletes to decide what they think is best for their child when competing.