ATLANTA — Republican senators spent their first day of the General Assembly’s legislative session solidifying their plans to go after their favorite targets: Georgia’s transgender community and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Early Monday, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, filed the chamber’s first bill, which would require transgender girls and women competing in sports at public middle schools, high schools and college student-athletes to play on teams, dress, shower and use restrooms according to the gender on their birth certificate. The bill would also apply to out-of-state and private institutions in games they play against those schools.

“I introduced legislation today that came out of the work of the Senate’s Committee on Protecting Women’s Sports,” Dolezal said in a news conference. Dolezal served as chair of the Senate Special Committee on Protecting Women’s Sports. “It does exactly what we discussed in the committee: it will establish clearly in Georgia law that males are not allowed to compete in female sports in the state.”

In a news release, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said the Senate is the on “right side of a common-sense issue.” Jones is expected to seek the Republican nomination for governor next year. Republicans have spent the past few years focusing on regulation transgender people, which they say is a winning issue among their base.

“Biological men do not belong in women’s sports, period,” said Jones, who created a panel to study transgender girls in sports last summer the day after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s gender was questioned following her defeat of an Italian boxer in last year’s Paris Olympics.

Khelif is not transgender, but the controversy around her participation in the 2024 Olympics spurred some Georgia lawmakers to take a closer look at transgender student athletes.

“This is common sense to everyone but the most radical liberals in Georgia,” Jones said.

Civil rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, were also at the Capitol on Monday, holding a rally and news conference to let lawmakers know they would be fighting back against anti-transgender legislation.

“How disappointing that this is such a priority when there are so many other concerns for Georgians in our state, so many other issues that people need to have addressed by our legislators,” said Carl Charles, an attorney with Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization.

Charles said there have been 115 anti-transgender bills filed in 25 states this year.

“That sounds bleak, but it should give us strength and (knowledge) that we are not alone in the fight against people who want trans Georgians and trans people in the United States to be pushed to the side (and) to be marginalized,” he said. “But we are here to say: ‘Not on our watch.’”

Senate Democratic Whip Kim Jackson of Pine Lake said it was discouraging that these were the first two issues the chamber’s Republicans want to focus on.

“Fundamentally, I think the majority caucus its has priorities wrong,” she said. “Instead of focusing on, really, harassing a small population of people and rehashing (the) past, I wish that we would work on moving forward and ensuring that all Georgians have access to health insurance and child care.”

Then on a 33-23 party-line vote, with Republicans supporting the measure, the Senate approved the continuation of a committee established to investigate Willis. Dolezal also sponsored that resolution.

Democrats said the committee was politically motivated and targeted Willis because she charged President-elect Donald Trump and 18 of his allies for attempting to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia in 2020.

But the day wasn’t solely about political partisanship.

Senators celebrated the 50th legislative session of state Sen. David Lucas, a Macon Democrat. Across the hall, House members kicked off the year by singing a rendition of Ray Charles’ hit “Georgia on My Mind” and holding a moment of silence, led by Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington, in memory of the late Democratic President Jimmy Carter, who died last month.

“In December, Georgians and Americans joined together to mourn the loss and celebrate the life, if you will, of a man who dedicated his life to the betterment of our state, our nation and of mankind, President Jimmy Carter,” he said. “His life of public service began here in this very place, this state Capitol, over six decades ago. Since then, President Carter’s leadership, statesmanship, kindness, faithfulness and love for our nation made a measurable difference in the lives of countless people both right here at home and around the world.”

The Georgia General Assembly will meet for 40 legislative days, adjourning April 4. This year lawmakers are expected to tackle legislation around topics such as in vitro fertilization, gun safety and overhaul the state’s litigation process.

Staff reporter Adam Beam contributed to this article.

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