(The Center Square) – The Georgia Senate’s first bill of the 2025 session will seek to ban men from participating in women’s sports.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, filed the proposal Monday. He chaired the Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sports, which made the recommendation.
The bill applies to the state’s middle and high schools and colleges. Teams would be either for males, females or co-ed. Separate changing areas for males and females are also required.
Key Terms:
Legislation: Laws or rules made by lawmakers.
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“Biological men do not belong in women’s sports, period,” said Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. “This is common sense to everyone but the most radical liberals in Georgia.”
Twenty-six states have passed similar bills; many have faced court challenges.
The Senate also passed a resolution that would allow a committee investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram ruled in December that Willis must honor a subpoena from the Senate Special Committee on Investigations. The judge set Monday as the deadline for Willis to respond.
The committee is focused on the potential enactment of new laws or a change in appropriations, said Dolezal, who sponsored the resolution.
“It’s not only the work of that committee that requires us to continue, but it has been the actions of the district attorney to fight our lawfully submitted subpoena,” Dolezal said.
Sen. Harold Jones II, D-Augusta, who sat on the committee, called it a waste of time.
“The shameful part of all of this, we spent more time in that committee room dealing with Fulton County prosecutorial issues and procurement issues than we did on where we are talking about spending Medicaid,” Jones said. “We spent more time worrying about how Fulton County does procurement than about how to get 500,000 people health care in this state and that is shameful.”
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Kim Jarrett | The Center Square
Kim Jarrett's career spans over 30 years with stops in radio, print and television. She has won awards from both the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.