Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is filing a lawsuit against state Attorney General Letitia James after she demanded that he rescind an executive order banning trans women from participating in women’s sport leagues at facilities run by the county.
Blakeman filed a 12-page lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday seeking a declaratory judgment. The lawsuit cites the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The lawsuit also cites Title 9, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs that receive federal financial assistance.
Blakeman said his executive order protects biological girls and women from “bullying” by “biological males” and supports “women’s equality in sports.”
“We don’t want 6-foot, 210-pound males competing against women and girls who are not that big, they’re not that strong,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday. “That’s an unfair competition. It’s dangerous. And we also don’t want biological males in the same locker rooms as biological females.”
The attorney general called Blakeman’s executive order “transphobic and discriminatory” and “blatantly illegal.” In a statement responding to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for James said, “This is not up for debate: the executive order is illegal, and it will not stand in New York.”
In her cease-and-desist letter to Nassau County last week, she threatened legal action against the county if he did not rescind the order by Friday. Her letter cited the New York Human Rights Law, which states it is illegal for places of public accommodation to discriminate based on sex or gender identity or expression. It also cites the Civil Rights Law that prohibits discrimination based on gender expression or identity.
There are more than 100 sports facilities in Nassau County that can…
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