Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Signs Riley Gaines Act Into Law
Georgia joins a wave of Republican-led states restricting trans athletes.
On Monday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a slew of education bills into law, including the Riley Gaines Act of 2025. The act is named after a Kentucky College swimmer who competed in an NCAA Championship race and tied for fifth with trans swimmer Lia Thomas. Since then, Riley Gaines has made a name for herself as the face of banning trans women from female sports.
Senate Bill 1, the Riley Gaines Act of 2025, prohibits “biological males from participating in women’s sports across Georgia,” according to a press release from GA Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones. The legislation follows President Donald Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
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“Just like President Trump is delivering on promises made in D.C., here in Georgia we are keeping our promises and fulfilling our commitments to the people of Georgia – specifically our female athletes,” Lt. Governor Jones said in the press release. “As the father of a female athlete – nothing is more important than ensuring that the protection of women’s sports is a reality in Georgia. I want to thank Governor Brian Kemp for signing Senate Bill 1 into law … I also want to thank Riley Gaines and the other brave female athletes who shared their heroic stories and helped shape this legislation,” he added.
The transphobia was impossible to ignore in Riley Gaines’ statement on the newly signed law. “Three years after I, and dozens of other D1 female athletes, were forced to compete against a man in a Georgia pool, the Riley Gaines act is now law. It’s an honor of a lifetime to know our stories help shed light on a grave problem of rampant gender ideology that means women are victims of government facilitated sex discrimination.” She thanked the leadership of the Georgia legislature and added, “Georgia has defined ‘woman’ in law and protected women’s sports. Thank you to all those who helped move this bill and restore truth and common sense.”
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Critics argue that Georgia’s Senate and House actions were overkill and an outsized effort against the rare cases of transgender women participating in sports. Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD — a nonprofit focused on queer advocacy — joined critics in a statement made on Monday.
“All students, regardless of gender identity, should have access to play school sports in a safe environment where they can learn and thrive.” She continued, “With the passage of this discriminatory legislation, Georgia lawmakers have unfairly and baselessly made it more difficult for transgender students to experience the same lessons sports offers all youth, and they have dangerously placed a target on cisgender girls who don’t fit neatly into societal expectations of gender.”
Georgia now joins more than two dozen states with similar prohibitions. As the discourse around transgender women in sports rampantly picks up under the Trump administration, we stand behind transgender athletes, and queer support groups, as they continue their advocacy for trans rights in sports and in society at large.
