NEW YORK (CN) — Both New York Attorney General Letitia James and the New York Civil Liberties Union sued Nassau County Monday for a local law that bans transgender women and girls from participating in sports at public facilities in the county.
The separate lawsuits were filed the same day Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed the policy into law. The legislation comes after a similar executive order by Blakeman was struck down by the Nassau County Supreme Court in May after a Long Island women’s roller derby league challenged it.
“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,” James said in a statement. “NYCLU and the Long Island Roller Rebels won their first lawsuit and County Executive Blakeman’s transphobic executive order was struck down because it was blatantly illegal. Now this discriminatory law must be as well.”
The law requires a league, team or other sports entity seeking to use public facilities in Nassau County to “expressly designate” itself as male, female or co-ed based on participants’ biological sex at birth. The policy applies to approximately 100 public facilities in the county.
The law also prohibits the county Department of Parks from issuing any permit for a sporting event or competition to a sports entity designated for women or girls that allows “biological males” to participate.
But, James notes, sports entities for men and boys can include participation by “biological females.”
The law, James says, targets women’s and girl’s teams for “differential treatment and increased scrutiny,” because men and boy’s teams don’t have the same restrictions under the local policy.
“A team or league designated for men or boys may receive a permit regardless of whether any participants were assigned female at birth,” James says in the lawsuit. “In contrast, a team or league designated for women or girls may not receive a permit if any participant was assigned male at birth.”
As a result of the legislation’s reach, transgender women and girls are prevented from participating in sports at swimming pools, ice rinks, soccer fields, volleyball courts, and more. The legislation would also apply to both local and visiting sports teams.
“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,” Blakeman said in a statement, criticizing James’ lawsuit.
The New York Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Long Island Roller Rebels, who had successfully blocked Blakeman’s original executive order.
“The Nassau County legislature has done a disservice to New Yorkers by joining County Executive Blakeman’s efforts to shut transgender women and girls out of sports,” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. “Blakeman’s anti-trans executive order was a blatant violation of our state’s civil and human rights laws, and so is the legislature’s copycat local law.”