County legislature passes bill banning biological males from women’s sports in county facilities

In a 12-6 vote along party lines, the Nassau County Legislature has moved forward with a bill intended to ban those who were born  male from participating in women’s sports and activities on county facilities — even if they now identify as female.

The move follows an executive order County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued earlier this year, which had faced more than one court challenge,

The bill was filed June 7 and was passed by the legislature's rules committee just three days later.

Presiding Officer Howard Kopel and Legislators Samantha Goetz, Rose Marie Walker and John Giuffrè stood beside Blakeman at a Mineola news conference earlier this month to announce the new legislation.

Goetz, Walker and one-time Republican congressional candidate Mazi Pilip co-sponsored the bill.

But there were detractors on the Democratic side, like  Legislator Arnold Drucker, who said no lawmakers had conversations with doctors regarding this bill, and what good it might actually do.

“This legislation is based on a perceived interpretation of a possible advantage that transgender women will have, isn't that correct?" Drucker asked.  "It's a perception, not based on a fact.” 

Legislator John Ferretti, however, countered there are typical differences between high school boys and high school girls when it comes to height, which already leads to rule variations like a higher net in men’s volleyball as opposed to women’s volleyball.

“That's a pretty big advantage for a biological male to be playing with a biological female, four inches taller and the next was six inches lower,” Ferretti said.

Legislator Debra Mulé suggested that if this bill was indeed about safety, then maybe lawmakers aren't going far enough.  

“By that logic," she said, "we should ban all sports because injuries
will happen.”

The bill, once approved by Blakeman, will most certainly see a courtroom in the near future by groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Juli Grey-Owens — a transgender community advocate and executive director at Gender Equality New York — say the problems with this potential law is actually quite simple. 

“You state that transgender girls and women can simply play with the boys,” Grey-Owens said. “Do you really believe that? Do any of you have a daughter? I raised one. Forcing trans girls to play with boys, do the boys want the girl to play with them? The answer is usually no, and so what happens is that the girls now faces bullying, harassment on their own team, or deciding it's just not worth it and I'll quit the sport and just not be bothered.”

Psychologists spoke out on the negative impact this bill could have on the mental health of trans people — issues echoed by some parents of trans youth.

“The transgender biological males are bullies if they want to play on an all girls or women’s team when they have an opportunity to compete against other biological males, when they have an opportunity to compete in co-ed leagues, and when they have an opportunity to form their own transgender league,” Blakeman told reporters ahead of the vote.

“It's not anti-anything. It's pro-women.”

After signing his executive order in February — which demanded sports, leagues, organizations, teams, programs or sport entities in county facilities designate themselves based on male, female or co-ed, and then only accept athletes who meet that criteria according to their sex at birth — state attorney general Letitia James sent a cease-and-desist letter to Blakeman demanding he rescind it.

Blakeman responded a few days later by filing a federal lawsuit contesting the order, which was denied in federal court and dismissed in April.

The county Supreme Court struck down Blakeman’s executive order on May 10, after a legal challenge by the NYCLU.

Blakeman plans to appeal the decision.