(The Center Square) – A New York appeals court has struck down Nassau County’s ban on athletes born male competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
The ruling by the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, declared the Long Island county’s law that bars transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports at county-run facilities is illegal because it violates the state’s Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law prohibiting efforts to restrict access to places of public accommodation “based on a person’s gender identity or expression, including whether the person identifies as transgender.”
“Although a local government is constitutionally empowered to enact local laws relating to the welfare of its citizens through its police power, it is prohibited from exercising that power through the adoption of local laws that are inconsistent with the New York State Constitution or any general law of the state,” the panel of judges wrote in the three-page ruling.
The decision, which is expected to be appealed, stems from a lawsuit filed by the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which claimed the restrictions signed into a law in 2024 by Nassau County Chief Executive Bruce Blakeman in July violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
Attorney General Letitia James – who filed a separate lawsuit over the ban – praised Wednesday’s ruling, saying Nassau County’s policy is “illegal and exclusionary” and that Blakeman “was just trying to stop athletes from playing with their teammates.”
“Nobody should have to fight to play the game they love,” said James, a Democrat. “Transgender athletes have the right to play on the court, field, or roller rink like everyone else, and today the Second Department made clear that Nassau County cannot ban them.”
Nassau’s law is similar to an executive order signed by Blakeman in February barring transgender athletes from participating in female sports at county facilities, which was blocked by a court ruling. In that ruling, State Supreme Court Judge Francis Ricigliano said Blakeman exceeded his authority by issuing the directive.
As that legal challenge was appealed, the Nassau County Legislature approved a similar ban on transgender athletes, which Blakeman signed.
Blakeman, a Trump-backed Republican who rode a red wave into office in November 2021, has argued that the order is necessary to protect cisgender girls and women from getting hurt while playing sports. He filed a federal lawsuit to block James from intervening in the prior dispute, but his legal challenge was rejected. That case is still pending.
The ruling comes one day after Blakeman’s failed bid to oust incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election. Hochul trounced Blakeman with more than 76% of the vote to win another term, according to preliminary results.
Gabriella Larios, a senior staff attorney with the NYCLU, said Wednesday’s ruling by the appellate court “made it abundantly clear that any attempt to ban transgender girls from public spaces is prohibited by the state’s anti-discrimination laws.”
