In a world where our daughters face increasing challenges and threats to their safety in private spaces and fairness in sports, it is our duty to stand up and protect them. The The Riley Gaines Act is a pledge to defend the rights, dignity, and future of every young girl in Georgia. This bill ensures that our daughters can compete on a level playing field and maintain their privacy in schools. It is a commitment to uphold the values of fairness, safety, and integrity in every aspect of their lives.
The Riley Gaines Act aims to ensure the safety, privacy, and fairness for students in public schools and athletic programs by designating spaces and sports teams based on biological sex.
Key Points of the Bill:
A: Georgia law does not currently protect the physical privacy and safety of students in settings like overnight trips or when using showers, restrooms, locker rooms, or changing facilities according to their biological sex. Furthermore, a federal executive order issued in 2021 allows biological males to use facilities designated for females based on gender identity. It also ensures that sports teams are categorized by biological sex, maintaining fair competition and equal opportunities for female athletes. This comprehensive approach addresses both private spaces and public competitions, crucial for fostering a secure and supportive environment for all students. See the “Real Life Examples” section for real stories of how women have been affected.
Yes. The Supreme Court VMI decision (United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 1996) as well as Title lX respect the real physical differences between males and females and require that the government protect students’ privacy in showers, restrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities. Letting males into females’ private facilities based on their belief about their gender, deprives girls – especially the many who have suffered sex abuse – of essential privacy rights.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the policy of a Florida school district that maintained separate restrooms based on biological sex in Adams v. St. Johns County Board of Education (2018). According to the 11th Circuit in Adams:
“…separating school bathrooms based on biological sex passes constitutional muster and comports with Title lX.”
“…both sides of the classification-biological males and biological females-include transgender students. To say that the bathroom policy singles out transgender students mischaracterizes how the policy operates.”
“Title lX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, but it expressly permits separating the sexes when it comes to bathrooms and other living facilities. When we read ‘sex’ in Title lX to mean ‘biological sex,’ as we must, the statutory claim resolves itself.”
* NOTE: The Biden-Harris administration made harmful changes to Title IX that took affect August 1, 2024. Thankfully, it is temporarily blocked in Georgia and 25 other states.
A: No, this bill does not permit discrimination. It ensures that the privacy of students on overnight stays and when using school showers, restrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas are protected. It also maintains fairness in sports by requiring that students compete in athletic teams according to their biological sex, preserving equal opportunities and fair competition for female athletes. Furthermore, the bill mandates reasonable accommodations for students who are unwilling or unable to use multi-occupancy facilities that correspond to their biological sex, ensuring that every student’s rights are respected and upheld without compromising the privacy or safety of others.
A: Schools have the duty to stop bullying of any kind, for any reason. Bullying is always wrong. Authorizing students to use the locker rooms and restrooms of the opposite sex does nothing to solve this problem. Instead, by substituting the likelihood of one type of harassment for another type of harassment, this would violate other students’ constitutional right to physical privacy. We cannot solve problems by creating bigger ones.
Riley Gaines’ Experience: Riley Gaines, a competitive swimmer from the University of Kentucky, vividly recalls the 2022 NCAA Swim Championships, where she witnessed Lia Thomas dominating the 500-yard freestyle. This event not only deprived deserving female athletes of their rightful opportunities but also raised significant concerns about the fairness of allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports. Gaines tied with Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle, an experience that underscored the need to protect the integrity of female athletics. With the support of her university, Gaines has become an outspoken advocate for safeguarding women’s sports, emphasizing that the inclusion of male-bodied athletes undermines decades of progress and leaves women vulnerable.
Paula Scanlan’s Experience: Paula Scanlan, a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, faced a challenging and distressing situation when her university allowed Lia Thomas, a biological male, to compete on the women’s swim team and share the women’s locker room. Despite being a sexual assault survivor, Scanlan was forced to change in front of Thomas multiple times, causing significant emotional distress. The University of Pennsylvania dismissed her concerns and attempted to “re-educate” the female athletes to be comfortable sharing these spaces with biological males. Paula courageously spoke out against these policies, despite the university’s attempts to silence her, highlighting the urgent need for legislative action to protect the privacy and safety of female athletes.
The Wailes Family’s Experience: During a school trip, an 11-year-old girl was unexpectedly required to share a bed with a male student who identifies as transgender, leading her parents, Joe and Serena Wailes, to seek clarification on school policies from Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado. Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, the Wailes are demanding transparency from the school district regarding room assignments that respect parental rights and student privacy. The incident, which occurred without prior notification to parents, involved the school initially prioritizing the transgender student’s privacy even after a room change was requested. The school’s general policy tends to assign rooming based on gender identity. Concerned for their children’s future school trips, the Wailes want other parents to be aware of these policies to make informed decisions.
Georgia had an opportunity to do all of this during the legislative session. @FrontlineGA is coming back for this and more in 2025. The insane gender ideology crowd is waging war on our girls and on common sense. It’s time our state make it stop. #gapol https://t.co/JHw9aLqeCJ
— Cole Muzio (@ColeMuzio) May 3, 2024
