First Georgia Senate bill of 2025 targets transgender girls in school sports as LGBTQ allies vow fight

Georgia State Sen. Greg Dolezal addresses the media on the first day of Georgia's 2025 legislative session at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 14, 2025. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Horace Cort / Horace Cort

The first Senate bill of the 2025 Georgia legislative session aims to keep transgender girls out of girls’ sports in middle and high schools as well as colleges.

The bill defines a student’s sex as what is on their birth certificate and forbids schools from allowing a student who was assigned male at birth from playing on a team designated for females. Girls could still play on boys’ teams, and either gender could play on teams designated as co-ed.

Under the bill, schools must also designate separate changing, restroom and sleeping facilities for males and females. The bill also sets up a process for people aggrieved under the law to seek relief from the county superior court. Schools that do not comply could lose their state funding.