A Long-Island-based women’s roller derby team is challenging a ban on transgender athletes in the New York county that they compete in.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s executive order, which was announced last month and went into effect this month, requires all sports teams to submit their sex assigned at birth should they compete in county facilities and parks. According to Blakeman, the order is meant to prevent “the bullying of women and girls by transgender males who have many outlets to compete without putting the safety and security of females in danger.”
As a result, the Long Island Roller Rebels will be unable to compete in Nassau rinks. The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association permits “all transgender women, intersex women, and gender expansive participants” to compete. The Roller Rebels have teamed up with the New York Civil Liberties Union to sue Blakeman over the order.
Additionally, New York Attorney General Letitia James has come out against the order. She demanded that Blakeman “immediately rescind his transphobic and illegal order within 5 days, or I will not hesitate to take decisive legal action.”
Blakeman responded to James by suing her to challenge her attempt to apply New York Human Rights Law against his order. The executive also expressed he was disappointed that the NYCLU “is not joining us in our fight to protect women.”
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The Roller Rebels’ next home bout in the county is slated for April 27, with subsequent games occurring in June and September.
While other states have enacted bans on transgender athletes, this is a rare case in New York. A nationwide Senate bill on the matter is on hold.
