MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an executive order on Thursday that bans transgender athletes from taking part in girls’ sports at county facilities—a move that was immediately slammed as illegal by trans rights advocates.
Under the order—which goes into effect immediately—representatives from girls’ sports teams and leagues will have to affirm in writing that transgender athletes are not competing in girls’ sports to obtain licenses and use permits at about 100 county-run or county-owned athletic facilities or ball fields. The facilities are used by public schools, private schools and colleges.
Blakeman signed the order while surrounded by female athletes at a morning news conference at county headquarters in Mineola. The Republican county executive said the order is in response to complaints from parents and female athletes who believe allowing biological boys to compete alongside girls is unfair. He said it will “help protect the integrity of women’s sports in Nassau County.”
“What we are saying here today with our executive order is if a league or team identifies themselves, or advertises themselves, to be a girls’ or women’s league or team that biological males should not be competing in those leagues,” Blakeman said at the event. “They can compete if they like in an all-boys or all-males league or a co-ed league. So this is not precluding anybody from participating in sports.”
The order is likely to end up in court, with the New York LGBT Network saying in response Thursday that state law “explicitly protects the rights of transgender individuals, ensuring their equal participation in all aspects of life, including sports.”
The group’s president, Dr. David Kilmnick, called the executive order illegal and said Blakeman is “furthering a divisive and harmful agenda.”
“This discriminatory move not only undermines the principles of inclusivity and fairness but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and exclusion,” Kilmnick said in a statement.
“It is also deeply alarming that Blakeman has chosen to align himself with an extremist group like the Loud Majority, known for its dangerous ideologies, who will stand alongside Mr. Blakeman in support of this ban,” the statement continued. “The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified the Loud Majority as a threat to civil rights and social harmony. Their alignment with the County Executive should be frightening to all Nassau County residents, as it signals a divisive and harmful agenda.”
The county executive said he “knows of no policies” in the state that would stop the executive order from remaining in place.
Blakeman described biological males playing in girls’ sports as a “form of bullying,” but Jennifer Maloy, who was among those protesting outside Thursday’s event, said Blakeman is the bully.
“When you create laws that target children, you are bullying them,” Maloy said. “All children should be allowed to play sports—that’s it.”
Juli Grey-Owens, executive director of Gender Equality New York, called the executive order “a solution looking for a problem.”
“How many trans athletes are really out there?” Grey-Owens said. “I mean our community is so downtrodden that very few of our kids actually have the opportunity to play sports or want to play sports. They’re usually hiding from all the violence and all the anti-trans hate.”
Legislation targeting transgender people has been sweeping the U.S. over the past few years, with scores of bills enacted, mostly in Republican-governed states. In response, two groups—the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Center for Transgender Equality—announced in January that they plan to merge this summer into a new organization called Advocates for Trans Equality to boost advocacy.
