New York county’s transgender sports ban takes effect

A Long Island county law that bars transgender girls and women from competing in county-run girls’ and women’s sports facilities took effect Monday.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, or NYCLU, and Attorney General Letitia James filed separate lawsuits against the measure on the same day, both arguing that it violates state anti-discrimination laws.

The Nassau County Legislature passed the law last month in a 12-5 vote along party lines, and county executive Bruce Blakeman signed it Monday. 

“I am gratified that the Republican majority in the Legislature voted in favor of this common sense measure to protect the integrity of women’s sports and the safety of women participants,” Blakeman, a Republican and Trump ally, said after the measure passed. 

Blakeman did not immediately return a request for additional comment. 

Under the law, sports leagues and programs that want to book county-run parks or athletics facilities are required to “expressly designate” as either a men’s team, a women’s team or a coed team based on the assigned sex at birth of the team’s competitors when applying for a permit to use county parks or facilities. 

It prohibits the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation & Museums from issuing permits to sports organizations that allow transgender women to compete on women’s teams. However, the law allows the county to grant permits to sports organizations that allow trans men to compete on men’s teams. 

The law is similar to an executive order Blakeman issued in February that was challenged by the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women’s roller derby league. A New York judge struck down the order in May, writing that Blakeman didn’t have the authority to issue such an order, which would require a law from the county legislature. 

The NYCLU, which is representing the Long Island Roller Rebels in the suit filed Monday, said the new law affects approximately 100 county athletic facilities and a wide range of sports groups and teams, from public and private school sports teams to recreational leagues, according to the suit.

“To gain equal access to facilities pursuant to the Local Law, these groups — and the people who participate in and run them — will be forced to make invasive inquiries about people’s gender identity, intrude upon their privacy and bodily autonomy, and ‘out’ people as transgender,” the suit argues. 

Curly Fry, president of the Long Island Roller Rebels, said county lawmakers are trying to deny people the benefits of playing sports while also “sending the message that trans people do not belong in Nassau County.” 

“Trans people belong everywhere, including in sports,” Fry said in a statement. “Much like we defeated the transphobic executive order, we will fight this new law and ensure all community members can join a sports team and feel welcome.” 

Attorney General Letitia James echoes some of the NYCLU’s arguments in her suit, including that the law violates state nondiscrimination protections. 

“With this law, Nassau County is once again attempting to exclude transgender girls and women from participating in sporting events while claiming to support fairness,” James said in a statement. “NYCLU and the Long Island Roller Rebels won their first lawsuit and County Executive Blakeman’s transphobic executive order was struck down because it was blatantly illegal. Now this discriminatory law must be as well. Here in New York, every person has the right to be exactly who they are free from discrimination, and my office will always protect that right.”

In recent years, half of states have enacted laws that restrict trans student athletes’ participation in school sports; however, New York has not passed such a law. It’s unclear how many state counties across the country have enacted similar local measures.

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