New York attorney general, NYCLU challenge county's transgender athlete ban

New York Attorney General Leticia James (D) and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) are once again taking legal action against a county outside New York City over a newly enacted law preventing transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams. 

The Republican-controlled Nassau County Legislature voted 12-5 last month to bar transgender female athletes from competing in accordance with their gender identity at county-owned facilities, effectively reinstating an executive order struck down by a state Supreme Court in May. 

The executive order — issued in February by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who signed the county’s new ban into law on Monday — prevented facilities owned and operated by the county from hosting athletic events that allow transgender women to compete on women’s sports teams. It applied to more than 100 public venues, including parks, baseball fields, basketball courts, swimming pools and ice rinks. 

James in March threatened Nassau County with “decisive legal action” if it did not repeal the order. The NYCLU in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women’s roller derby league, argued that the order conflicts with state anti-discrimination laws. 

Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Francis Ricigliano struck down the order in May, ruling that Blakeman did not possess the authority to issue an executive order limiting transgender athletes’ participation in sports. 

Independent lawsuits filed Monday by James and the NYCLU allege the county’s new law, like the executive order before it, violates New York law and imposes undue scrutiny on women’s sports teams. 

“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 Monday in a statement. 

Blakeman on Monday said he is disappointed by James’s lawsuit. “I am very disappointed that the Attorney General would attempt to frustrate Nassau County’s desire to protect the integrity of women’s sports, ensure the safety of its participants and provide a safe environment for girls and women to compete,” he wrote on the social platform X. 

Curly Fry, president of the Long Island Roller Rebels, said county lawmakers defending the renewed restrictions on transgender athletes are “sending the message that trans people do not belong in Nassau County.” 

“Trans people belong everywhere including in sports,” they 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.”