Political standpoints in the classroom from Critical Race Theory to pandemic protocols have been a major topic of discussion throughout this year’s legislative session. Another issue that has recently been introduced is the question of gender equality among school athletics. Children who seek transition from being biological males to identifying as females have at times attempted to compete with biologically female athletes.
State Sen. Marty Harbin
Some argue that this creates an unfair level of competition among female athletics due to certain biological factors. A major proponent of this has been State Senator Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, the primary sponsor of the “Save Girls’ Sports Act”, which intends to provide a fair and level playing field among all high school athletes in the state of Georgia.
According to the Georgia High School Association bylaws “the GHSA will honor a gender determination by a member school. The GHSA will not make gender identity determinations nor entertain appeals of the member school’s determination.”
Senate Bill 266 states that “it shall be unlawful for a public or private school whose students or teams compete against a public school to operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities that permit a person whose gender is male to participate in an athletic program for females.”
This bill continues to say the “term gender shall mean a person’s biological sex and shall be recognized as a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” While this statement is argumentative to some students and their parents, the representatives of this bill feel they are trying to ensure that all student athletes are provided with equal opportunities while looking to create equality among women’s sports.
In an exclusive interview with InsiderAdvantage Harbin was asked about his motivation to be the primary sponsor for this bill, explaining, “I have four sons and two daughters, and I recognize that there are many differences between boys and girls. God created both male and female and though they are equally valuable, biologically they are different.”
“With sports you build the mind of a child through competition and discipline. When there is an unequal playing field it hampers with the fact that every young person wants to compete in a fair environment. It is a fact that biological males have a certain advantage over biological females when it comes to sports. This is evident by multiple things we see in our sports culture.”
One example he feels that shows this biological distinction is the four-minute mile. He provided this writer with some statistics, “We have had 1400 males run a four minute mile, but we have yet to have a female be able to do that. So obviously there are some differences. I think that when you have biological males competing with biological females there is an unfair advantage for the biological males from the standpoint of receiving scholarships and reaching certain levels of success. This bill prevents that advantage by only allowing biological females to compete against biological females.”
When the bill was first introduced it created quite a controversy, which will likely continue in the current legislative session. One of the main reasons the bill did not proceed when set in motion was because there were no clear instances of this issue occurring in Georgia. While there are examples of transgender athletes competing in female sports in other states across the country, the representatives of the bill fear that it is only a matter of time before it becomes more common in Georgia.
The opposition to the bill felt like it may be a solution in search of a problem and Harbin said, “I do not see it as a solution in search of a problem because we’ve seen it already in other states. I believe a lot of what Georgia represents is the belief that we need to create a fair playing field for those that are playing.”
When asked about Harbin’s thoughts on how the bill will play out this year he said, “the bill last year was on the table and was very close to being on the floor of the Senate. I think this year we are a little ahead, we have good support and I had had some from the opposite party say I agree with the principle that is there but I don’t know if i can support you publicly, but I do think the session will be very interesting.”
Charles Clay is a staff writer for InsiderAdvantage
