Georgia Gov. Kemp signed HB 1084, authorizing K-12 ban on transgender athletes in girls' sports

On April 28, 2022, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 1084 into law at the State Capitol in Atlanta, enacting the "Protect Students First Act" (Act 719). The bill began as a measure barring K-12 curricula from teaching nine defined "divisive concepts" about race, but a floor amendment added on April 5, 2022 — the final day of the legislative session — folded in a second provision: it creates an athletic "executive oversight committee" and explicitly authorizes it to adopt a policy "to prohibit students whose gender is male from participating in athletic events that are designated for students whose gender is female," barring transgender girls from girls' interscholastic sports. Schools that do not comply forfeit state QBE funding, giving the provision statewide enforcement teeth.

The General Assembly passed the amended bill in a late-night session on the final day before adjournment; Kemp signed it days later alongside several other education measures. HB 1084 did not itself ban transgender athletes — it delegated that decision to a newly created oversight body — but the athletic provision's discriminatory purpose was explicit in the bill's own text.