New York county bans trans women from competing in women’s sports

A New York county executive announced late last week that he will use an executive order to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.

Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, issued the executive order that states sports leagues, organizations, teams and other entities in Long Island County must expressly designate teams based on an athlete’s sex assigned at birth, when applying for a “use and occupancy” permit at Nassau County Parks property at all levels.

According to the order, permits will not be given to any event or competition that allows trans women or girls to compete in girls or women’s sporting events. The order does, however, allow for trans men and boys to play in competition for men and boys.

A recent report from ABC News detailed the decision by the Nassau County executive to ban trans women from women’s sports. Below is an excerpt from the ABC News story.

This will go into effect immediately, according to Blakeman’s office. The move goes against guidelines from local and national sports associations.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association’s transgender policy states that it is “committed to providing all students with the opportunity to participate … in a manner consistent with their gender identity and the New York State Commissioner of Education’s Regulations.”

The National Collegiate Athletic Association transgender guidelines vary from sport to sport. Transgender student-athletes typically need to document sport-specific testosterone levels at the beginning of their season and a second documentation six months later, and then another documentation four weeks before championship selections.

The governing bodies of several national and international sports leagues, including the International Olympic Committee, require transgender women to meet certain hormone levels in order to play on sports teams with cisgender women.

One study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that the athletic advantages of the 46 trans women over their cisgender counterparts declined with feminizing therapy. However, this study also found they had a 9% faster mean run speed than cisgender women after a one-year period of testosterone suppression. A different study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that there is not yet any direct or consistent research suggesting transgender women have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition.

Blakeman, a Republican, said he believes the designation of separate athletic teams or sports based on sex assigned at birth “is necessary to maintain fairness for women’s athletic opportunities.”

“Women and Girls hard work, on-field achievements, and athletic futures deserve to be fostered, nurtured, and celebrated,” Blakeman stated in the executive order.

Local civil rights advocacy groups, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, argued the executive order is illegal.

“Requiring girls who are trans to compete on boys’ teams effectively bars them from sports altogether,” NYCLU said in a statement to ABC News. “Participating would mean being outed and being denied the same opportunities other girls enjoy: to challenge themselves, improve fitness, and be part of a team of their peers.”

To read the full story from ABC News, click here.