SEAFORD, N.Y. (AP) — They fly around the rink in helmets, pads and mouthguards. They jostle, bump, and sometimes bump into each other for position on the hardwood floor.
But for the women of the Long Island Roller Rebels, the biggest battle is happening outside the suburban strip mall roller rink as they gear up for the upcoming roller derby season.
The nearly 20-year-old amateur league is suing county leaders over an executive order banning women's leagues, women's leagues, and teams with transgender players from using county parks and fields. . The league's legal efforts, supported by the New York Civil Liberties Union, have brought it into the national conversation about transgender athletes' rights.
Amanda Urena, the league's vice president, said there was no question the group would take a stand.
“The whole point of the Derby is for people to feel welcome,” said the 32-year-old Long Island native, who competes as “Curly Fry” and identifies as queer, but the United said during a recent practice at Skate of America. At Seaford. “We want trans women to know that we want you to come and play with us. We will continue to fight and create safe spaces for you. We will do our best to make sure there is.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's February proclamation affected more than 100 public facilities in the county of nearly 1.4 million people just east of Queens.
Sports leagues and teams seeking permission to play or practice at county-run parks would be required to disclose whether they have or allow transgender women or girls. Organizations that allow them to play will be denied permission, but men's leagues and teams will not be affected.
About two dozen states have already passed laws restricting transgender youth's participation in sports, part of an explosion of anti-trans legislation on a number of topics in recent years. Manhattan's largest school district is among those considering a ban, following last week's school board vote.
This month, the Roller Rebels sought permission from the county to hold practices and games at county-owned rinks next season, as they have in previous years. But they expect they will be turned away because the organization is open to anyone who identifies as female and already has one transgender player on its roster.
Urena said the ban would also make it harder for the league, which has two teams and about 25 players, to recruit players and hurt its ability to host competitions with other leagues.
State Attorney General Letitia James asked the county to rescind the ban, saying it violated state anti-discrimination laws, but Blakeman asked a federal judge to uphold the ban.
It's no surprise that roller derby leagues have become the face of opposition. Margot Atwell, who plays in a women's league in New York City and is the author of Derby Life, said roller derby leagues have long been a haven for queer and transgender women. A book about roller derby.
The sport dates back to at least the 1930s and reached its heyday in the 1970s. Two teams race around the track, with each designated “jammer” trying to score points by lapping other skaters who are allowed to use their hips or chest. Then use your shoulders to slow down.
Atwell said the recent resurgence began in the early 2000s and has been supported by LGBTQ+ people, with leagues frequently participating in Pride parades and holding fundraising games.
“I come here and say, 'I'm a trans woman.' I'm a non-binary person. I'm genderqueer.” Got it? We accept you,” said Caitlin Carroll, a roller leveler competing as “Catastrophic Danger.” “The world is scary enough. You should have a safe place.”
Blakeman said she wants to ensure female athletes can compete safely and fairly.he held a press conference last week caitlyn jenner, won the Olympic gold medal in the men's decathlon in 1976, and subsequently underwent a gender transition. Jenner, a Republican who is often politically at odds with the larger transgender community, supports the ban.
Blakeman, a Republican elected in 2021, said voters called on his office to take action. But many critics dismiss the ban as a political posturing, noting that he acknowledged there were no local complaints about transgender players on the women's team.
“This is a solution in search of a problem,” said Emily Santos, 48, a transgender woman from Long Island who wants to join the women's softball team. “We are not bullies. We are the ones being bullied.”
Grace McKenzie, a transgender woman who plays for the New York Rugby Club's women's team, added that those most affected are not elite athletes, but children who are still coming to terms with their gender identity.
“Cruel is the only word I can describe,” said the 30-year-old Brooklyn resident. “Kids that age are using sports to build relationships, build friendships, and develop teamwork skills and leadership skills, which, frankly, they're already facing as a transgender kid. It only helps us protect ourselves from all kinds of hate.”
In the broader debate about trans women in sports, both sides point to limited research to support their views. And the bans often do not distinguish between girls and women who have taken puberty blockers as part of their transition, which inhibit the development of male-specific physiques, and those who have not, New York said. the defender pointed out.
Juli Gray Owens, a leader with the New York State Gender Equality Movement, said Nassau County's order could force some young transgender girls to compete with boys instead, putting them at greater risk. He said he would be exposed to.
“They haven't hit puberty yet, so they haven't grown up and gained physical strength, endurance, agility, big feet, big legs,” Gray-Owens says.
Shane Diamond, a transgender man who plays LGBTQ+ ice hockey recreationally in New York City, said the ban would prevent strong, muscular cisgender female athletes from becoming transgender, as is happening elsewhere. He said that there is a possibility that it will be incorrectly recognized as such and could even result in disqualification.
“This creates a system where young women who don't fit the stereotypes of femininity and femininity are at risk of having their gender questioned and policed,” Diamond said.
A 2022 University of Maryland Washington Post poll found that 55% of Americans oppose allowing trans women and girls to compete against other women and girls in high school sports, and 58% oppose allowing trans women and girls to compete against other women and girls in college sports. It turns out that there is opposition in professional sports.
After hearing Jenner's story, two cisgender female athletes said it's never fair for transgender women and girls to be allowed to compete because men are stronger than women.
“You can get hurt in a situation like that,” said Trinity Reed, 21, who plays lacrosse at Hofstra University in Nassau County.
Mia Babino, 18, played field hockey at the State University of New York at Cortland and plans to transfer to Molloy College in Nassau County.
“We have worked hard to get this far and play at the collegiate level,” she said.
But that attitude goes against everything athletics stands for and sells the Roller Rebels' women and their potential short counter Urena.
“If people stopped playing sports because they thought they would lose, the sports industry would not survive,” they said. “I love playing against people who are faster and stronger than me because it makes me better.”
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Follow Philip Marcelo twitter.com/PhilMarcelo.
