A county in blue state New York has taken a bold step to protect female athletes by banning male athletes who claim to be transgender from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
The “Executive Order for Fairness for Women and Girls in Sports” — issued by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — blocks women’s and girls’ teams or leagues from using the county’s 100 ballfields and athletic facilities unless they pledge to bar “biological males.”
Under the order, sports leagues in the county on Long Island must affirm in writing that male athletes are not competing in female sports to get permission to use county-run athletic facilities.
In announcing the executive order at a news conference on Thursday, Blakeman said men must stop “bullying” female athletes.
“There is too much bullying going on of biological males trying to inject themselves in women and female sports, and we will not tolerate that in Nassau County,” the Republican official said.
“It’s wrong and it’s a form of bullying,” he said.
Trans-identified male player for Kipp Academy in MA injured 3 girls before half time causing Lowell Collegiate Charter School to forfeit.
A man hitting a woman used to be called domestic abuse. Now it’s called brave.
Who watches this & actually thinks this is “compassionate,… pic.twitter.com/ZLlqYH6iAs
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 19, 2024
Blakeman said it’s patently unfair to force female athletes to compete against male athletes given the latter’s innate physical advantages.
Should more counties enact similar measures?
“We are protecting girls’ rights to compete against other girls,” he told the New York Post. “It makes no sense for biological boys who identify as transgender to compete against girls. It’s completely unfair.
“Biological boys are faster, bigger and stronger. They have a physical advantage against women.”
The county executive said he decided to enact the rule after being barraged with complaints from female athletes and their parents.
Avery Graziosi, a 14-year-old freshman at Long Beach High School in Nassau County, said the new rule helps level the playing field for girls.
“The competition in girls’ sports is already competitive without adding people who have more genetic capabilities, people who are stronger,” she told the Post.
“We’re already competing at a high level, to a high standard,” Avery said. “The competition is intense, getting better and better each year. Why add unreasonable standards that we couldn’t possibly compete with?”
Nassau County bans transgender athletes from woman’s sports!
Love this guys as he calls it what it is “these males are bullying their way into woman’s sports and taking advantage “
Yes. They. Are. pic.twitter.com/MHGdDWGSIu
— Sarah Sansoni (@sarahsansoni) February 23, 2024
Predictably, transgender activists and left-wing politicians were up in arms and slammed the regulation as “transphobic.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York Civil Liberties Union claimed the directive is illegal.
“This executive order is transphobic and deeply dangerous,” James wrote on X.
“In New York, we have laws that protect our beautifully diverse communities from hate and discrimination of any and every kind … We are reviewing our legal options,” the Democrat said.
This is deeply transphobic and deeply dangerous.
In New York, we have laws that protect our diverse communities from hate and discrimination of any kind.
We always stand up to those who break our laws and threaten our communities, and my office is reviewing our legal options. https://t.co/89tduIV7qE
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 22, 2024
Blakeman, an attorney, said he’s confident the executive order will withstand any legal challenges.
“I know of no policy in the state to strike that down, and I would encourage all elected officials to join us to protect girls and women,” he said. “Probably if you polled most women athletes, they would be 100 percent behind us.”
Actually, if you poll everyone who’s honest and logical, they’d agree that banning men from crushing girls in women’s sports makes perfect sense.