Bella Bautista and Soju Hokari have competed as trans college athletes in Georgia. They are speaking out against a bill that would ban trans women from female sports. | Photos provided
The speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives on Tuesday announced that the proposed trans-student-athlete ban titled “The Riley Gaines Act”, named after the former collegiate swimmer-turned anti-trans activist, will be introduced in the current session of the legislature.
Last Friday a similar measure, Senate Bill 1, was advanced out of state’s Senate Education and Youth Committee for floor debate. That follows a contentious hearing, during which the Republican sponsors of the bill called it necessary to “ensure a level playing field for women.”
Five of the plaintiffs in the Gaines-led lawsuit against the NCAA over transgender inclusion, filed U.S. District Court in Atlanta last March, testified in support of the measure. Each had a similar line of argument centering around 2022 NCAA Champion Lia Thomas, who’s championship victory was also held in Georgia.
“We were never asked. We were never given a choice or another option,” said former University of Kentucky 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.”
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Emory University ultimate player Soju Hokari said SB1’s passage takes away a senior season to play Photo Credit: Georgia Senate (left), Soju Hokari (right)
However, two local collegiate transgender student-athletes also testified at the hearing, and put forth their story. Soju Hokari, a senior at Emory University in Atlanta and a member of her school’s women’s/gender expansive ultimate team, expressed her frustrations at the bill and the anti-trans tone of the current Presidential Administration in Washington.
“Between SB1 and the executive orders, my right to exist is being slowly, methodically stripped from me,” Hokari stated. “I want to imagine a world where all women can enjoy sports. We have to be able to focus on the actual problems in women’s sports, and not scapegoat trans women who just want to compete.”
Bella Bautista, a former competitive cheer athlete at Oglethorpe (Ga.) University and a Miss Georgia USA hopeful, chided lawmakers, saying they held a high measure of contempt for the student-athletes who spoke in favor of the bill and disrespected trans people.
“The people are well-paid, well-rehearsed and the only thing they could reference was Lia Thomas,” Bautista said. “These people have nothing to work on except fear mongering.
“They are harming one community to protect another community. This is about rights for all Americans and its unfair. As a trans athlete, this affects me and its time that they really open their eyes and see the world is bigger than they think.”
The measure moved forward on a 9-3 vote. Every Republican member, plus one Democrat, voted to send the bill to the full Senate.
Despite the result, both Hokari and Bautista said they will push against it alongside friends and teammates in hopes of keeping their state joining the 26 states that have passed similar laws, and further anti-trans measures including a proposed ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth in the state.
“I wish my elected representatives supported me like this,” Hokari stated, pointing the number of members of her university team who also attended the hearing. “I wish all of you here at the front of the room had the guts to stand for trans people, and to protect those who are marginalized in this state.”
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