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By Katherine Fung
Senior Writer
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A New York county could ban transgender athletes.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman plans to introduce on Friday a controversial bill that would prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports at county-owned athletic facilities. It would affect more than 100 athletic facilities in the Long Island county just east of New York City, including baseball fields, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.
Blakeman first introduced the ban as an executive order, but it was struck down by the Nassau County Supreme Court last month after a judge ruled he didn't have the authority to impose the ban without the county legislature's approval. Republicans control 12 of the 19 seats, so the law is widely expected to pass.
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"We will be introducing legislation in the Nassau County Legislature to codify the protections that were in my executive order to ensure the fairness and safety of women's and girls' competitions," Blakeman told the New York Post on Thursday. "I am confident the legislature will act favorably to protect girls and women in Nassau County."
The move comes after 24 states have passed transgender sports bans.
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When Blakeman signed the executive order in February, the ban was met with swift backlash from some of the state's highest-ranking officials, including Governor Kathy Hochul, who accused Blakeman of trying to score "cheap political points," and Attorney General Letitia James, who said her office was reviewing all legal options.
"There is nothing lower than trying to score cheap political points by putting a target on the backs of some of our state's most vulnerable people: Trans kids," Hochul wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "New York has some of the nation's strongest protections for the LGBTQ+ community, and I am committed to enforcing them."
Last month, Judge Francis Ricigliano of the Nassau County Supreme Court said in a 13-page decision that Blakeman's order was aimed at preventing transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports, "despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment" that allowed him to implement that order.
The lawsuit was filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) on behalf of the Long Island Roller Rebels, a roller derby league that welcomes trans women and was barred from using county facilities under Blakeman's order.
Responding to Ricigliano's ruling, Blakeman said it was merely a "lack of courage from a judge who didn't want to decide the case on its merits."
Despite facing criticism, Blakeman has garnered both local and national support for a ban. The Nassau Legislature's presiding officer, Howard Kopel, has indicated that he would help usher it into law. "This measure not only safeguards the integrity of women's sports but also fosters an environment where every athlete can thrive with confidence and dignity," he said.
Should the new bill pass into law, it too is likely to be challenged in court. The NYCLU has signaled it is prepared to file suit again.
"Any attempt, whether through executive action or legislation, to ban transgender girls and women from participating in girls' and women's sports is prohibited by our state's anti-discrimination law. It was true when we successfully struck down County Executive Blakeman's transphobic policy and it is true now," Gabriella Larios, staff attorney at the NYCLU, told Newsweek.
"If the Nassau County legislature chooses to introduce such harmful legislation, we will see them in court," she said.
Transgender athlete and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner appeared alongside Blakeman at a March press conference in support of his order. She told reporters: "There are massive advantages and undeniable differences from male development, basically going through male puberty."
Jenner called the solution "simple," saying that when it comes to athletics, "you have to compete in the biological sex in which you were born."
Update 6/7/24, 10:21 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from Gabriella Larios, staff attorney at the NYCLU.
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