Georgia passes 'Riley Gaines Act' that aims to prohibit trans athletes from competing in female sports

The Georgia House recently passed the “Riley Gaines Act,” which aims to prohibit transgender athletes from competing against biological girls and women.

The bill is named after Gaines, the host of the “Gaines for Girls” podcast on OutKick, who has been a champion for keeping biological males out of girls’ and women’s sports ever since competing against Lia Thomas, a trans swimmer who won an NCAA title three years ago.

Representatives voted 102-54 for House Bill 267 on Thursday.

While all 54 no’s came from Democrats, three of them voted to pass; zero Republicans voted no, and of the 10 who did not vote, nine were Democrats.

The measure moves to the Senate, which has passed its own separate legislation.

“Female athletes deserve fair competition and that means the chance to maintain the women’s divisions distinct from men’s categories,” said Republican Rep. Josh Bonner of Fayetteville, the bill’s sponsor.

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Georgia’s high school athletic association currently bans transgender students from participating in sports based on their gender identity; 25 other states have laws restricting sports participation by trans athletes.

Democratic Rep. Karla Drenner of Avondale Estates said the bill is “calculated, dangerous, deeply discriminatory piece of legislation that goes far beyond the realm of athletics.”

“Let’s call this the erasure of transgender Georgians act today,” said Drenner, who was the first openly LGBTQ+ member of the legislature when she was elected in 2000.

Several states, despite President Donald Trump’s executive order, have allegedly continued to allow transgender athletes to compete against biological females; the Department of Education has launched Title IX investigations into California, Minnesota and Maine for doing so.