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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 4. 2021
School sports bills draw backlash NewnameTfor
from Georgia transgender advocates
By Beau Evans
Staff Writer
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - A trio of bills aimed at sepa
rating Georgia school sports teams between
children assigned male or female at birth
have cropped up in the General Assembly,
sparking backlash from LGBTQ advocates
who view the measures as discriminatory to
ward transgender persons.
One measure by state Rep. Philip Single-
ton, R-Sharpsburg, has taken the brunt of the
focus for its proposal to ban “biological
boys” from playing on school sports teams
with “biological girls,” as well as permit law
suits against schools that defy splitting up dif-
ferent-gendered student athletes.
Another bill, by state Rep. Rick Jasperse,
R-Jasper, would require similar school-sports
separations as Singleton’s measure, likewise
legally defining “gender” as “a person’s bio
logical sex at birth” in state law.
It would also require a panel of three doc
tors to review information on a “student’s re
productive organs, genetic makeup and other
medically relevant factors” if parents seek to
waive having their kids comply with the
male-female sports rules.
A third measure filed Thursday by state
Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, would also
separate high school athletes based on gen
der, defined as “biological sex.” It would fur
ther require Georgia public colleges and
universities to do the same by making “all de
terminations based on sex and not on gen
der.”
LGBTQ advocates have long challenged
moves to conflate gender with sex, citing re
search that disputes equating a person’s sex
ual identity with their sex organs. They argue
Singleton’s bill, the only one of the three to
face a General Assembly hearing so far, could
ostracize Georgia’s transgender students.
“We know from our country’s history that
separate but equal is never equal,” said Heidi
Miracle, parent of a transgender daughter and
the community engagement director for the
LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit PFLAG’s
Woodstock chapter.
“Transgender youth need to fit in, to be ac
cepted,” Miracle said at a recent hearing on
Singleton’s bill. “To force them to be on a
team with a gender identity that does not
match their own and against their will would
be devastating.”
Singleton, who introduced a similar meas
ure last year, has dismissed criticism that his
bill targets transgender youths in Georgia, ar
guing its intent is to promote fairness in fe
male high-school sports while stressing that
“biological differences at birth” give male
athletes a competitive advantage.
“This bill is not about transgender ath
letes,” Singleton said. “This bill is about pro
tecting girls’ sports. There’s noise that’s
trying to detract from that.... We’re trying to
prevent people from being hurt in Georgia.”
Opponents of Singleton’s bill have also
warned it could prompt popular sporting
Family Matters
Fostering a love of reading
By Mary Migliaro
Parent Mentor
Reading is a huge aspect
of our culture and a key life
skill that we all need. It pro
vides a critical foundation for
success in school and in life.
Most of the time in school,
children learn isolated read
ing skills and often associate
reading with work, not pleas
ure.
The benefits of reading for
kids and teens start in the
brain as early as infancy, ac
cording to the American
Academy of Pediatrics. In a
study they conducted in
2014, it was discovered that
“reading exerts a positive ef
fect on the developing brain”
of children - even for those
little ones who can’t read yet.
Reading helps children
improve their concentration,
leam more about their world,
develop empathy, enhance
their imagination, and do bet
ter in school.
For a love of reading to
develop, reading must begin
at an early age. Children
should not only be read to as
infants and toddlers, but
should be able to touch, see,
and explore books of their
own. As children grow and
develop, reading at home
should be a consistent every
day activity that the whole
family experiences.
It is important to under
stand that reading should not
be an isolated activity.
“Reading” involves more
than picking up a book and
speaking the words on the
page. Reading must also en
compass understanding, de
velopment of knowledge, and
connections in one’s mind to
previous knowledge.
Reading aloud to younger
children helps them develop
their ability to read and en
hances their vocabulary. To
maximize the effect of read
ing to young children, par
ents can have dialog during
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reading by stopping to reflect
on what has been read or
what may be coming up in
the story.
Before reading, ask your
child questions such as:
• Does this book look in
teresting to you?
• What do you think this
book is about? Why do you
think this? (also known as
predicting).
• What do you see on the
front and back covers?
During reading, ask the fol
lowing:
• What do you think will
happen next?
• Ask your child to restate
or re-tell some key elements
of the book.
• Encourage your child to
use the pictures to help them
understand the story.
After reading, generate a
discussion by asking the
following:
• Does this book remind
you of something that has
happened to you?
• Did you enjoy this book?
Why or why not?
Tips to foster a love of
reading in your home:
• Create a reading culture
at home. Make books easily
available throughout the
house; read to small children
regularly; let your kids see
you reading for fun; talk
about the books you’re read
ing over dinner.
• Don’t be picky about
what your kids choose to
read, as long as it’s age-ap
propriate. Whether it’s a
novel, a comic book, a mag
azine or an e-book on a tablet
- let your child choose some
thing she finds interesting or
engaging.
• Make an event out of
trips to the library. Most li
braries have story time or
other events for children
weekly. Get your child his
own library card as well.
• Be sure there are plenty
of good books and newspa
pers in your home. Books can
be checked out from your
local library and not neces
sarily purchased.
• Never use reading as a
form of punishment and
don’t force reading time. If
there are interesting books in
your home, kids will want to
explore them.
Fostering a love for read
ing can be a challenge. Re
member to celebrate your
child’s accomplishments in
reading in a way that is
meaningful to them. Praise
and encourage your child.
And most of all, allow the
gift of books and reading to
empower your child.
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is an
educator and Parent Mentor.
She may be contacted at
marymigliaro@aol.com.]
events like the NCAA basketball tournament and
socially conscious business groups to abandon
Georgia, threatening economic damage similar
to what North Carolina faced for passing a bill to
restrict bathroom use according to gender in
2016.
“When LGBTQ people don’t feel welcome at
work or in the community, they’re less likely to
stay,” said Chris Lugo, executive director of
OUT Georgia Business Alliance. “Employee
turnover is a drag on our state economy and busi
ness competitiveness.”
Supporters have rallied behind Singleton’s
measure, arguing male athletes have biological
advantages over female athletes and should not
be allowed to potentially create unfair playing
fields. Harbin’s bill, likewise, is co-sponsored by
more than half of the state Senate’s Republican
members.
“This is an actual pro-women legislation,”
Rep. Sheri Gilligan, R-Cumming, said about Sin
gleton’s bill. “And there is nothing discrimina
tory about laws that protect equal opportunities
for females and female athletes.”
Another measure, sponsored by Rep. Ginny
Ehrhart, R-Marietta, would forbid Georgia doc
tors from performing sex-reassignment surgeries
on anyone younger than 18, with felony charges
resulting from ignoring the proposed ban.
The Georgia Republican-backed bills on sex
and gender follow President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20
order to boost federal protections against gender
identity and sexual orientation discrimination,
aiming to relieve kids from “worrying about
whether they will be denied access to the rest
room, the locker room or school sports.”
Biden’s order was hailed by LGBTQ advo
cacy groups including the Human Rights Cam
paign, which said the protections “will have a
real and practical impact on the day-to-day lives
of the approximately 11 million LGBTQ adults
and millions more LGBTQ youth in the United
States.”
Other groups have panned Biden’s order, call
ing it a step too far that could harm female ath
letes. The nonprofit Independent Women’s Voice,
which backs Singleton’s bill, said the order
“jeopardizes the future of female sports and may
even place girls and women in physical danger.”
Singleton’s bill and others also come as the
U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equal
ity Act on Thursday, which would bolster protec
tions against gender identity and sexual
orientation discrimination in jobs, housing and
public areas like restaurants.
All six of Georgia’s Democratic U.S. House
members voted in favor of the Equality Act. All
eight Republicans voted against it. The measure
now heads to the U.S. Senate.
our buildings
and parks?
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Last week’s editorial is about the
lack of local history that goes into the
naming of most of Pickens’ parks,
government buildings and roads. In
addition to having two Peace Parks,
we have places that are dully referred
to as “the courthouse,” “the overlook,”
“the Admin building,” and others. We
asked our Facebook followers if they
have ideas to bring some local heritage
to the names for our parks, landmarks,
streets, etc. Here are some responses:
Jon Loveless -1 notice that the ed
itorial presumes that anything is ever
"safely" in the history books. I believe
that, as the saying goes, would be a
mistake. Even if you did manage a
(temporary) consensus, given the
strong trend toward lunacy-driven hys
teria, controversy and turmoil over vir
tually any selection would almost
inevitably follow. And likely sooner
than later. Just be glad, perhaps, that so
far they're still using words instead of
simply Park 1, Park 2, Building 1,
Building 2. Of course, that would
quickly draw the ire of the numerical
equality movement.
Sherry Marie - Um...Tate House?
Tate? This article isn't correct. Unless
they're just forgetting all about that?
(Editor s Note - We responded to this
post, “True and a good point. We were
focusing on government buildings,
roads, and parks, but maybe there is
someone better to name something
for. ”)
Kayla Hollifield - Let’s organize
and open up a warming/homeless shel
ter in Pickens County and think of a
great local name. This is way past due
for our growing homeless population
right here in our very own hometown.
#positivepickens
Tim Schutter - Seems like a pretty
low priority to focus on compared to
other challenges this county faces.
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