GENDER REVEAL
A proposed Long Island law banning biological men from women’s sports could be a test for culture wars nationwide
TOMORROW, the Nassau County Legislature will vote on a measure that would prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports in county-owned facilities. While critics like state Attorney General Letitia James have called it “discriminatory” and “transphobic,” the measure, supported by most Nassau County voters, would actually promote fairness and integrity in women’s athletics.
The proposed law is not motivated by antagonism toward the transgender community. In fact, the law allows trans-identified females to compete against males in some contexts, and for the trans-identified of either sex to participate on co-ed teams. What the proposed law expressly prohibits is biological males competing on, and against, all-female teams.
The law recognizes a principle lost on its progressive advocates: that the ever-expanding rights of the transidentified often conflict with the basic rights of women and girls. It used to be common sense that men are, on average, faster, stronger, and bigger than women, and that femaleonly sports empower women to showcase their athletic skills without a competitive biological disadvantage. “Physical differences between men and women, however, are enduring,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in United States v. Virginia, one of the liberal jurist’s most celebrated opinions.
In this spirit, Nassau County’s policy is designed to promote a safe and fair competitive environment for biological females, not to punish the trans-identified. “When we blur the lines between male and female competition, we diminish the accomplishments, efforts and safety of all women athletes,” said legislator Samantha Goetz.
Indeed, the catalyst for the proposal, according to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, was inamendment put from Nassau constituents who expressed that allowing males to compete against females was discriminatory against women. According to a Siena College Poll, 53% of Long Island voters support Blakeman’s executive order (since struck down) barring biological males from competing on female-designated teams at county parks and facilities, the policy which the Nassau legislation would enshrine into law.
Zooming out, another Siena College Poll suggests that similar policies are broadly supported by voters statewide, with 66% agreeing that participation in high-school athletics should be based on sex rather than “gender identity.”
The issue is likely to be a focal point in the debate surrounding the socalled “Equal Rights Amendment,” a proposed state constitutional designed to protect against discrimination based on “gender identity.” Also known as Proposition 1, the measure was placed back on the November ballot last Tuesday by a State Appellate Court.
If the new Nassau County law passes tomorrow, as polls suggest it might, a lawsuit will likely challenge it. But that challenge will place Democrats in a predicament. If the law is struck down, it will demonstrate that Proposition 1 is unnecessary to “protect” said “gender identity.” After all, in a March statement attacking Blakeman’s executive order, AG James stated, "Under New York law, it is illegal to discriminate against an individual based on their sex or gender identity or expression."
But if Nassau’s law remains upheld, it will force Democrats to campaign specifically on the need for Proposition 1 as the only means by which to insert biological males into female-only sports — a goal which, again, the Siena College polling demonstrates is unpopular.
Meanwhile, the lawsuits will be expensive and make Democrats look bad either way. Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton responded to the Nassau legislation’s introduction by saying litigation expenses would prevent, of all things, tax relief and road repaving — things she knows are priorities for voters.
This conundrum telegraphs a broader reality. Despite New York's reputation as a heavily Democratic state, Nassau County, traditionally a bellwether in presidential elections, has been trending Republican — in part due to social issues such as sports participation. Republican County Executive Blakeman won in an electoral upset in 2021. The Nassau GOP took Congressional Districts NY-03 and NY-04 the following year, in yet another political upheaval spearheaded by Lee Zeldin, whose campaign focused on rolling back progressive criminal-justice reforms.
What's happening in “purple” Nassau County is a microcosm of a larger battle in New York and across the nation: a clash between common-sense policies and progressive "antidiscrimination" policies. With this legislation, County Executive Blakeman and members of the legislature are fighting back against radical, reality-denying policies, while preserving fairness and integrity in women’s sports.