cnn
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New York’s attorney general and the local affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union are both separately suing a New York county after it again banned transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams.
The new law affecting Nassau County facilities replaces an executive order that was recently struck down in a New York court after it took effect in February. The Nassau County Legislature voted 12 to 5 to pass the new law in June.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said he is disappointed that New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing the county.
“I am deeply disappointed that the Attorney General is failing Nassau County to protect the integrity of women’s sports, ensure the safety of its participants, and provide a safe environment for girls and women to compete,” Blakeman said in a statement Monday. Will try to thwart the wish.”
James’ lawsuit states that the Nassau County law, in addition to violating Section 10 of the municipal home rule law, also violates New York State human rights law and civil rights law. In a Monday news release, the attorney general said the new law mirrors the February executive order.
“Here in New York, every person has the right to be exactly who they are free from discrimination, and my office will always protect that right,” James said in the release.
According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, these laws “give local governments the power to adopt local laws, so long as those local laws are ‘not inconsistent with any common law’ of the state.”
Long Island County has more than 100 county-owned athletic facilities and in order to comply with the new law, those who want to run or participate in leagues and teams will be required to respond to “offensive inquiries about the gender of cis women and trans women.” Will be forced to do.” equal recognition, interferes with their privacy and bodily autonomy, and ‘outes’ people as transgender,” the civil liberties organization said in a news release Monday.
“We are suing Nassau County again – for their discriminatory law that bans trans girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at county-run facilities,” the group posted on X. Order, which our lawsuit recently vacated.”
In February, Blakeman signed an executive order banning transgender women and girls from competing on women’s sports teams and leagues at county-owned facilities. The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in March on behalf of the Long Island Roller Rebels, a women’s flat track roller derby league of Nassau County, arguing that the county’s February executive order violated New York’s Human Rights Act and Civil Rights Act. Have violated.
Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Francis Risigliano vacated the order in May, saying Blakeman did not have the authority to issue it, according to court filings.
“NYCLU and Long Island Roller Rebels won their first lawsuit and County Executive Blakeman’s transphobic executive order was struck down because it was clearly illegal,” James said in his Monday release. “Now this should also be a discriminatory law.”
“Sports should be about challenging yourself and finding joy through movement,” said Curly Fry, president of the Long Island Roller Rebels. “Trans people are included everywhere, including sports. Just like we defeated the transphobic executive order, we will fight this new law and ensure all members of the community can join a sports team and feel welcome.
New York is one of 25 states — including California, Georgia and New Jersey — that ban transgender students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, according to data from the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank. There is no statewide law doing so.
Data from the project show that more than 20 states, including Florida, North Carolina and Arkansas, have passed laws that prohibit transgender people from playing sports consistent with their gender identity.
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