OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
4:16 PM – Sunday, March 3, 2024
According to a recent news statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James ordered that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman lift a ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s and girls’ sports, calling the rule a “discriminatory and transphobic executive order.”
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On Friday, the attorney general of New York blasted a Long Island lawmaker with a cease-and-desist letter for releasing an executive order that was deemed “discriminatory and transphobic” and aimed to prevent transgender athletes from participating in sports.
Bruce Blakeman, the executive of Nassau County, was given an order by James to “immediately rescind” it because she believes it violates New York law by discriminating against individuals based on their sex, gender, or identity.
The directive, according to James, was a “clear violation” of state civil and human rights law and would subject all female athletes to “intrusive and invasive questioning.” It extended to more than 100 venues under the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Museums.
“The law is perfectly clear: you cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression. We have no room for hate or bigotry in New York,” James declared in a statement. “This executive order is transphobic and blatantly illegal. Nassau County must immediately rescind the order, or we will not hesitate to take decisive legal action.”
The executive order bans transgender athletes from participating against females at any of the 100 sports facilities, such as at ice rinks and ball fields, that Nassau County manages. It’s thought to be the first county-wide prohibition against transgender athletes in American history.
The executive order, signed on February 22nd, prohibits transgender athletes from competing in girls’ or women’s sports leagues and teams at county facilities.
“What we are saying here today with our executive order is that if a league or team identifies themselves or advertises themselves to be a girls or women’s league or team, then biological males should not be competing in those leagues,” Blakeman said.
Blakeman added that he had been thinking about passing the ban for months and asserted that transgender athletes shouldn’t play on the same field as girls.
When reporters questioned Blakeman last week about what motivated the enactment of the ban, he did not provide any instances of such incidents taking place in Nassau County. The executive director of the organization in charge of the county’s high school athletics did not either.
Five days were given by James to the county administration to revoke the order, “or else face additional legal action.”
During a press conference on Friday afternoon, Blakeman reiterated his assertion that he wanted to shield players from “bullying.” In order to study state and federal law, he also invited James or her office to meet with county attorneys.
“We have not had any issues with transgender athletes participating in section 8 athletics…no complaints, and I’m not sure that there are any,” said Pat Pizzarelli, of the Nassau County Public High School Athletic Association.
The directive was a part of a movement that aims to limit transgender athletes’ access to organized sports under the pretext of fairness. Regulators that manage professional sports have had difficulty in recent years striking a balance between fair play and inclusivity, and the popularity of this topic in the media has influenced even leisure sports played locally.
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