Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced the new policy.
Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced Thursday that he will issue an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in competitions that align with their gender identity at county-run facilities.
The executive order requires that Long Island County sports leagues, organizations, teams, and other entities apply for “use and occupancy” permits at Nassau County park facilities based on an athlete's sex assigned at birth. It stipulates that the team must be explicitly specified. Sports competitions and events of all levels.
Permits will not be granted for events or competitions that allow transgender women or girls to participate in girls' or women's sporting events. The order would allow transgender men and boys to play in men's and boys' competitions.
The move goes against local and national sports association guidelines.
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association's transgender policy states that it is “committed to providing opportunities for all students to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity and New York State Board of Education regulations.” .
The National Collegiate Athletic Association's transgender guidelines vary by sport. Transgender student-athletes are typically required to record their sport-specific testosterone levels at the beginning of the season, record a second time six months later, and record again four weeks before championship selection.
Several national and international sports league governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, require transgender women to meet certain hormone levels in order to play on sports teams that feature cisgender women. There is.
Health experts say there is no clear data on whether transgender women have a physiological advantage.
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that feminization therapy reduced the athletic advantage of 46 trans women compared to cisgender women. However, the study also found that after a year of testosterone suppression, women ran an average of 9% faster than cisgender women. Another study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found that there is still no direct or consistent research suggesting that transgender women have an athletic advantage at any stage of their transition.
Preventing transgender youth from participating in school sports could negatively impact the physical and mental health of a population already at risk, experts wrote in a recent JAMA Pediatrics editorial. . Transgender youth lose the developmental benefits of sports participation.
Restrictions on hormone levels affect athletes with differences in sexual development, including intersex track and field athlete Caster Semenya, who was born with naturally high testosterone levels.
Blakeman, a Republican, said she believes designating separate athletic teams and sports based on sex assigned at birth is “necessary to maintain equity in women's athletic opportunities.” .
“The hard work of women and girls, their accomplishments on the field, and the future of our sports deserve to be nurtured, nurtured, and celebrated,” Blakeman said in the executive order.
Local civil rights groups, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, called the executive order illegal.
“Requiring transgender girls to compete on boys' teams would effectively exclude them from sports entirely,” the NYCLU said in a statement to ABC News. “Participating means being ostracized and denied the same opportunities that other girls enjoy, such as challenging themselves, improving their fitness and being part of a team of peers. means.”
