The same place that Democrat Tom Suozzi just won his old US House seat back is back in the news…
This only applies to female sports playing on Nassau County property…
This IS going to court….
An executive order in Nassau County banning female transgender athletes from competing on girls’ teams is causing controversy with state officials and lawyers ridiculing it and questioning its legality.
“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 children,” Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a prepared statement. “Now that the Nassau GOP’s fearmongering on immigration failed in NY-3, they’re resorting to a new divisive culture war attack: bullying trans kids. We’re proud New York has some of the nation’s strongest protections for the LGBTQ+ community and my administration is committed to enforcing these laws.”
Hochul was referring to her party’s success in capturing a recently Republican House seat on Long Island earlier this month.
Her opposition to GOP County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s Thursday order, which takes effect immediately, came as questions and concerns mounted among Democrats and civil rights attorneys.
In a statement, the New York Civil Liberties Union called the executive order “cynical” and illegal, noting that it will “consider all options to stop it.”
“Requiring girls who are trans to compete on boys’ teams effectively bars them from sports altogether,” Bobby Hodgson, NYCLU’s director of LGBTQ rights litigation, said. “Participating would mean being outed and being denied the same opportunities other girls enjoy: to challenge themselves, improve fitness, and be part of a team of their peers.”
At issue is Blakeman’s requirement that athletes playing in an organized sporting event or competition on county property compete with their biological gender, or in a coed category. It explicitly bans transgender females from competing in a sporting event for teams in an all women’s or girls league. It would impact any female transgender athletes playing for any team, public or private — including public school and college teams — who participate in any of the county’s 100 recreational facilities.
Transgender men would still be allowed to compete in men’s leagues.
“We’ve been contemplating doing this for the last couple of months, and I had my legal team research what exactly we could do to protect girls and women,” Blakeman told reporters.
He said he believes a transgender female playing in an all women’s or girls’ league is bullying and called the order not politically motivated, but common sense….
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He did not say whether the executive order was in violation of New York laws.
The move comes as transgender issues — particularly around school sports — has become a cause for culturally conservative Republicans. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for instance, incorporated backlash to the matter into his failed presidential campaign.
Blakeman shrugged off questions about potential challenges from the state Attorney General’s office….