State Senate committee lays groundwork for restricting transgender athletes

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Senator Greg Dolezal reads the recommendations released by the senate committee studying transgender women in sports on Friday.

Credit: Sarah Kallis/GPB

The state Senate committee considering the participation of transgender athletes in sports released its findings Friday. 

Senators on the committee are recommending that schools, colleges and universities who receive state funding not be allowed to let transgender women compete in women's sports. They also want changing rooms be designated based on sex assigned at birth. The recommendations could also apply to private schools that compete against public schools.

The committee held several meetings this year and heard from Georgians on both sides of the issue.

Sen. Greg Dolezal chaired the committee.

“We would hope is that we put these guardrails in place and then ultimately we have people compete in sports on the gender they were assigned at birth," he said.

The committee also recommends that the board governing school sports in Georgia be repealed so that the Legislature can make the rules instead. 

Recommended punishments for schools that do not abide by the rules include the authority to withhold state funds and opening schools up to civil lawsuits from participants. 

The state legislature must pass the recommendations in a bill in order for them to become law. The legislative session starts on Jan. 13.