New York county's latest trans athlete ban draws lawsuits from attorney general, civil rights group

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — The New York attorney general and the New York Civil Liberties Union on Monday sued a county on Long Island over its latest move to ban transgender females from playing on women’s sports teams at county facilities.

The separate lawsuits came on the same day Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, signed the policy into law. Months earlier, a judge had blocked a similar rule Blakeman put in place through an executive order.

Both cases argue the ban violates state anti-discrimination laws.

“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,” Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Blakeman in February signed an executive order to implement the policy but it was eventually blocked by a judge. Then in June, the Nassau County Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans, voted to reinstate the ban.

The rule would bar trans athletes from playing at facilities owned by the county, unless they compete on teams matching the gender they were assigned at birth or on coed teams. It would apply to about 100 sporting facilities in the county.

Blakeman said in a statement, “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.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of a women’s roller derby league, the Long Island Roller Rebels, which had successfully sued to block Blakeman’s original executive order.

“It is abundantly clear that any attempt to ban trans women and girls from sports is prohibited by our state’s antidiscrimination laws. It was true when we successfully struck down County Executive Blakeman’s transphobic policy and it is true now,” Gabriella Larios, staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.