Men will no longer be able to compete in women’s sports in Georgia. Compliance with the “Riley Gaines Act” begins Tuesday

School systems that fail to enforce Georgia’s law prohibiting males from participating in women’s sports may face the loss of state funding, but they would have the opportunity to comply first.

Senate Bill 1, commonly known as the Riley Gaines Act, will take effect on Tuesday. Additionally, it mandates that restrooms and changing areas accessible to multiple students be designated for a single gender.

A straightforward legal remedy is available. If a student feels they have been “deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffer any harm as a result of a violation of this Code section,” they can file a civil action within two years of the incident.

Before an entity can lose state funding for violating the law, several steps must be taken.

Initially, the law requires each entity to designate a single person to handle compliance with the law. Upon receiving a complaint, the designated person must make a decision.

If the complainant disagrees with the decision at the school level, an appeals process commences with the local school board or the private school’s governing body.

If the complainant remains unsatisfied, the next appeal is made to the state board of education, which will develop a corrective plan. The entities have a year to demonstrate their willful compliance with the plan, as per the bill.

The state Board of Education has a year to assess whether the entity is complying with the corrective plan before sending the file to the Department of Community Affairs for certification. A year after the certification, the board of education can ban entities that fail to comply from participating in interscholastic competition.

Entities that persist in non-compliance within the year of the competition ban could face the loss of state funding, with the amount determined by the state board to ensure the local school system’s or public school’s compliance with the law.

The bill is named after Gaines, a former University of Kentucky All-American swimmer who participated in the 2022 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, hosted by Georgia Tech.