Riley Gaines testifies in support of Georgia women-in-sports bill named for her

Georgia's House Education Committee recommended approval of the Riley Gaines Act that would ban males from participating in women's sports and change the word "gender" to "sex" in the state's code.

Gaines testified before the committee via Zoom, drawing from her own experience. She competed against swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Championship at Georgia Tech.

Thomas swam for the Penn men's team for three years, then switched to the women's team. Gaines has taken the lead in advocating to keep men out of women's sports.

"It's unfair because of the stark athletic differences between men and women where the severity of potential injury at the hands of a male athlete is immense and where opportunities and resources for women are already extremely scarce," Gaines told the committee.

The bill differs from Senate Bill 1, which also bans males from female sports.

The change from "gender" to "sex" in House Bill 267 will affect a long list of state functions, including patient record systems and the list of registered voters.

The bill also defines "father" as a parent of the male sex and "mother" as a parent of the female sex. Males are defined as individuals who have "the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration and utilization of sperm for fertilization, or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident."

A female is "an individual who has, had, or will have the reproductive system capable of the generation, migration, and utilization of eggs for fertilization, or would have such capabilities but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident," according to the bill.

The bill would allow the Professional Standards Commission, which oversees certification and professional conduct for certified personnel in Georgia's schools, to issue fines for violations of the provisions of the bill regarding athletics after an investigation. The fines are a minimum of $1,000 and could be levied on principals, superintendents and others who supervised the athletic event, according to the bill.

Senate Bill 1 has passed the Senate and is up for consideration in the House. The House bill now goes before the full chamber for a vote.