Transgender sports ban advances out of Georgia Senate committee; gender-affirming care under fire
by Ross Williams and Jill Nolin, Georgia Recorder January 30, 2025
State lawmakers have advanced a bill expanding Georgia’s ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports out of committee, and other Senate bills targeting gender-affirming care, including for adults, are already in the queue.
The Senate Education and Youth Committee passed a long-expected bill that aims to prevent transgender girls from playing school sports on girls’ teams at every grade level as well as college.
The law bans boys from playing on teams designated for girls, though girls can play on teams designated for boys if there is no equivalent girls’ team. Schools would still be able to offer co-ed sports to any student. Colleges would also fall under the bill, and schools that buck the bill could lose state funding.
The law would apply to private schools that play against public schools. The bill also sets up requirements for separate male and female restrooms and locker rooms and allows a complaint process.
The bill’s sponsor, Cumming Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal, said it will ensure a level playing field for female athletes.
Sen. Greg Dolezal. 2024 file photo. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
“We essentially created a category for women that by definition excludes male participation,” he said. “Because if you have a sport open to members of both sexes, what we know… is it will be dominated by men, by males. That is also indisputable by a lot of pieces of data that we have seen.”
Four college swimmers participated virtually to speak on behalf of the bill. The women are not from Georgia, but lost to transgender athlete Lia Thomas at a competition at Georgia Tech in 2022. The four also testified that they were made to share a locker room with Thomas, which they said made them highly uncomfortable.
“We were never asked. We were never given a choice or another option,” said swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler. “We were just expected to be OK with it, to shove down our discomfort, our embarrassment, our fear, because standing up for ourselves would mean being labeled as intolerant or hateful or bigoted. This is the future awaiting your daughters, if you do nothing.”
The NCAA changed its eligibility rules after complaints mounted over Thomas’ victories.
But 22-year-old college cheerleader Bella Bautista said transgender athletes often don’t have an advantage and need to work as hard as cisgender athletes.
From left, Democratic Sens. Elena Parent and RaShaun Kemp and Republican Sen. Clint Dixon discuss a transgender sports ban. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
“I was never allowed to be on the cheer team at my high school because I wasn’t white enough and I wasn’t womanly enough and I didn’t look good in the uniform, quote, unquote,” Bautista said. “When I got to college, the opportunity opened up for me, and I worked so hard to be able to be on that team. As transgender athletes, we get beat every single day by cisgender athletes, 99% of the time we’re losing, but that is a part of being an athlete. You’re not always going to win everything.”
Atlanta Democratic Sen. RaShaun Kemp warned the bill could invite new lawsuits against the state, either from transgender girls who will not be allowed to play or from cisgender girls who are incorrectly challenged as transgender because of their physical characteristics.
Kemp proposed an amendment to the bill spelling out that judgements on a student’s ability to play will not be based on “visual inspection of such student’s exterior sex organs,” which the committee unanimously approved.
Other Democrats on the committee described the bill as a sign of twisted priorities.
“People don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to dig a dagger and turn a knife and use people for political advantage versus actually trying to do the people’s business,” said Atlanta Democratic Sen. Elena Parent.
Dawson Democratic Sen. Freddie Powell Sims said she also didn’t see the point of the bill.
“I’m really confused because now, right now, as we debate this issue, there are 1,735,585 students in Georgia’s public school system,” she said. “Most of them are seriously suffering from and struggling through learning loss, as we sit here and debate who’s faster, who’s stronger, who’s bigger, who’s whatever. Our literacy rates in the state of Georgia are some of the worst in the southeastern region of the country, of the whole United States of America. Yet and still, we sit here and spend hours and hours debating this issue. What are we doing, Mr. Chairman?”
Sims went on to vote for the bill anyway, declining to comment when asked about her vote after the hearing.
Advocates watch as a Georgia Senate committee votes to advance a transgender sports ban. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Ban on state-funded treatments
Sims also declined to comment on another proposal to cut off gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy or gender reassignment surgery, for state workers, local educators and others on the state health insurance plan that is breaking new ground in the ongoing culture wars in Georgia.
She and fellow Democratic Sen. Ed Harbison of Columbus joined more than two dozen Senate Republicans in sponsoring that bill, filed by Vidalia Republican state Sen. Blake Tillery this week.
If it passes, it would prohibit coverage for gender-affirming care under the state’s insurance plan or through state-funded providers.
Parent said Tillery’s bill represents a shift in target.
Until now, the transgender-related health care measures debated over the last couple years in Georgia have focused on minors, including another bill filed this week that would revive a controversial plan to ban puberty blockers for minors
“So now they’re really invading into adult medical decisions,” Parent said.
Sen. Blake Tillery. 2024 file photo. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
The state started to provide gender-affirming care after public workers, including a state employee, a Bibb County educator and another state staffer whose young adult child was enrolled in the state plan, filed a lawsuit that was ultimately settled in late 2023. The state reportedly paid out $365,000 as part of the settlement, according to commentary included in the bill.
The settlement was “entered into by the state health benefit plan and the Attorney General without prior notice to or approval by the General Assembly,” the bill says.
“It should not fall on the state of Georgia and its taxpayers to fund transgender surgeries,” Tillery said in a statement.
Tillery’s bill was filed as President Donald Trump has issued a series of gender-related executive orders on the federal level, including one banning openly transgender people from serving in the armed forces and another declaring that the federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, ending “gender ideology extremism.”
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www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-23 13:33:00
(The Center Square) – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock says ethics questions about his housing and financial disclosures already have been answered.
A conservative nonprofit in Washington is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust says information on his housing provided by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he’s been senior pastor since 2005, hasn’t been disclosed and his outside earned income is in question.
In an email to The Center Square, a statement from Warnock’s office says, “Reverend Warnock sought and received explicit approval from the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee on this matter. The ministry-owned housing is not income. Rather, it is a customary benefit provided to the senator because of his ongoing position as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, a position he has held for the past 20 years.”
The nonprofit said before moving into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided by the church, he was receiving $7,400 in monthly housing allowance. It also said he sold his previous home to buy one in the Washington area.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-22 12:06:00
(The Center Square) – An ethics organization is accusing Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of accepting housing from his church and not including it on financial disclosures.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is asking the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics for an investigation, according to a letter on the organization’s website.
The complaint says Warnock moved into a $989,000 luxury home in Georgia provided to him by Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the senator is pastor. Before Warnock moved into the residence, he was receiving a $7,400 monthly housing allowance from the church.
“Since moving into the luxury home, Sen. Warnock has not included any information about being provided housing on his financial disclosures,” the complaint said. “In addition to the undisclosed housing, he has reported receiving an annual income from the church just under the maximum outside earned income limit, for instance $31,815.12 in 2023.”
Warnock sold his former Georgia residence and purchased a home in Washington, the organization said.
Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, said she is hoping the committee will act promptly on the request.
“There are tax laws and ethics rules which allow for a senator to accept reasonable lodging or housing, but they are only applicable in a narrow set of circumstances – they are not an open-ended loophole that can be abused,” Arnold said in a statement. “Among other factors, it’s critical that the value of the housing provided be commensurate to the work done – and then the value be disclosed. It’s difficult to fathom any citizen could look at this situation (a U.S. Senator that is a part-time employee of an organization, which pays him a salary and then happens to buy him a million-dollar house to live in for free after he was elected to Congress) and not think something potentially wrong is afoot.”
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Warnock through his office prior to publication.
The 2026 race for Georgia governor is shaping up with candidates from both parties now entering the race.
Gov. Brian Kemp cannot run for a third term, leaving the keys to the governor’s mansion up for grabs.
Meet the declared candidates
Sen. Jason Esteves. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Democratic Atlanta Sen. Jason Esteves announced his candidacy Monday with an introduction video highlighting his experience, including as a former teacher and chair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. In the video, titled “Underdog,” Esteves took aim at what he characterized as radical Republicans in the state government following the lead of President Donald Trump.
“I’ve had enough of families working harder than ever but still struggling and our kids falling behind instead of getting ahead,” Esteves said in his announcement video. “Yet extreme politicians in Georgia push Trump’s reckless agenda, rig the system for special interests and stick us with the bill.”
As Esteves read these lines, the screen flashed with images of Trump, Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Esteves’ only announced Republican rival, Attorney General Chris Carr, who became the first to throw his hat in the ring in November.
Attorney General Chris Carr speaks at the 2025 Georgia Faith and Freedom Luncheon in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Carr’s campaign has highlighted his experience in law enforcement, especially operations targeting immigrants, gang members and human traffickers.
“For decades, we’ve been the best place to live, work, raise a family and build a business,” Carr said in his introductory video, titled “Keep Georgia Strong.” “That hasn’t happened by chance. It’s happened because we’ve had leaders who are willing to make tough decisions, put Georgians first and stood strong in the face of adversity. Progressive activists are trying to radically transform our values and our economy. As your attorney general, I’ve made it my mission to keep Georgia safe.”
Carr has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s second-term agenda, but their relationship hasn’t always been chummy. In 2022, Trump called Carr “a disaster every step of the way” and backed an unsuccessful primary challenge against him after Carr declined to investigate Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia’s 2020 election.
Meet the maybe candidates
Lt. Gov. Jones, a Republican who is widely considered likely to enter the governor’s race, is considered a more steadfast Trump ally – Jones was one of Georgia’s so-called fake electors, who met at the state Capitol in 2020 to cast votes for Trump even after his loss to Joe Biden was officially certified.
President Donald Trump and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at a rally in Zebulon in 2024. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Jones’ closeness to the president could benefit him in a Republican primary, but it’s less clear whether his tightness with Trump will help or hurt in a general race. How Trump shapes the race will likely depend on how Georgians’ view the chief executive during the buildup to next year’s election season.
“If the economy goes bad, if inflation is up, if unemployment is up, then some of the luster may be taken off of Trump,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “Now, for the MAGA folks, it probably doesn’t matter, but for the critical element of independents and, in the general election, of white, college-educated voters, if Trump’s attractiveness has been substantially reduced, then that certainly works for the advantage of Democrats.”
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, another rumored but unconfirmed candidate, could also make a reasonable play as someone Trump-skeptical conservatives and independents could back.
Raffensperger was on the other end of the now-infamous 2021 phone call in which Trump called on him to “find” enough votes to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Raffensperger declined, earning the ire of Trump and many of his supporters.
Firebrand conservative Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is another member of the maybe column – she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast back in February that she was open to either a run for the governorship or for Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s seat, which is also on the ballot in 2026.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
On the Democratic side, one much-speculated candidate seems less likely to have her eyes on Kemp’s job than she did last year.
Democratic Congresswoman Lucy McBath hasn’t ruled out a run entirely, but she announced late last month that she was suspending her bid as she focuses on the health of her husband, who recently underwent surgery for cancer.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who recently served as an advisor to former President Joe Biden, told 11Alive News early this month that she plans to run for governor.
Former DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond has not ruled out a run – and neither has former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who became a household name after narrowly losing to Kemp in 2018 and again by a wider margin in 2022.
A crowded Democratic primary could be just the thing to dash the Dems’ dreams, Bullock said, if the intra-party attacks get too intense.
“If they get into it, then a lot of money will be spent within the primary, and sooner or later, even though they may start out simply singing their own praises, there would be a tendency to go negative, especially if at least three serious candidates get into it so you have a run-off. That’s when attacks really become strong.”
The elephant in the room
Gov. Brian Kemp. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Kemp is reportedly considering a run at Ossoff’s seat.
Many Republicans would be thrilled to see Kemp’s name on the ballot next to Ossoff’s – Kemp enjoys relatively high approval ratings and has shown he can win statewide races in campaigns for governor and secretary of state.
But Kemp – whose name has also been floated as a potential presidential candidate in the future – may see moving to the Senate as a downgrade, Bullock said.
As governor, Kemp has sway over all aspects of state government, but he would be one of 100 in the Senate, and as a newly elected senator, he’d be too low on the seniority rankings to chair any important committees.
“He’s going to be far less visible in that role, the scope of his influence is going to be tiny compared to what he has now,” Bullock said. “He’s not going to be living in a mansion. He’s going to be living probably in an apartment, maybe in the Watergate building. He’s not going to have an SUV and a state patrolman to drive him around.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
Once Kemp makes a decision, expect plenty of dominoes to fall afterwards.
Georgia Fire and Insurance Commissioner John King has said he would consider a run for Senate if Kemp does not. Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper has also publicly teased the idea of running.
“Conceivably, virtually the entire hierarchy of statewide Republican officials could give up their current positions, which would be then just wildness in terms of primaries, probably on both sides, of candidates running for each of those statewide offices,” Bullock said. “You may well clear out a large share of the state Senate and some of the state House. It may be if you show up January of 2027 at the Capitol, you may not recognize anybody because they’ve all run for something, cleared out the state Legislature. So this could be an extraordinary election cycle in Georgia.”
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Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Assessment: Center-Left
The content primarily focuses on the upcoming gubernatorial race in Georgia, presenting information about various candidates from both major political parties. It features a Democratic candidate, Sen. Jason Esteves, who is characterized as progressive, particularly in his criticism of Republican leaders and their alignment with Trump’s agenda. This framing suggests a critical stance towards the conservative party and its policies. Additionally, the article highlights the controversy surrounding Republican candidates and their affiliations with Trump, which may imply a negative viewpoint of these figures.
While the piece includes perspectives from both Democrats and Republicans, the emphasis on the Democrats’ campaign strategies and criticisms of Republicans gives it a Center-Left political bias. Overall, the content leans toward a more critical view of conservative politics while presenting Democratic candidates in a favorable light.
