By PHILIP MARCELO (Associated Press)
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — Caitlyn Jenner, an Olympic champion, stated that she is in favor of a local New York official’s decision to prevent female sports teams with transgender athletes from using county-owned facilities.
The ban affects over 100 athletic facilities in New York City’s Long Island suburbs. Jenner, speaking with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman at his office in Mineola, expressed her belief that allowing transgender athletes like herself to compete against other women will have a long-lasting negative impact on women’s sports.
“Let’s stop it now while we can,” said the reality TV personality, who publicly came out as a transgender woman in 2015.
The LGBT Network, a Long Island-based advocacy group, described Jenner’s comments as a “confusing contradiction” to her own identity as a transgender woman, stating that it is “not only hypocritical but also harmful” to the LGBTQ community.
“It is disheartening to witness someone who has experienced the challenges of being marginalized actively contribute to the oppression of others within the same community,” David Kilmnick, the group’s president, said in a statement. “Such actions only serve to amplify the voices of intolerance and detract from the collective efforts towards a more inclusive society.”
Blakeman, a Republican elected in 2022, issued an executive order in February requiring any teams, leagues or organizations seeking a permit from the county’s parks and recreation department to “expressly designate” whether they are for male, female or coed athletes.
Any teams designated as “female” would be denied permits if they allow transgender athletes to participate.
The ban doesn’t apply to men’s teams with transgender athletes. It covers all Nassau County-owned facilities, including ballfields, basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools and ice rinks.
Jenner, 74, competed against men when she won the Olympic gold medal in the decathlon in 1976. She said she has “sympathy” for LGBTQ people and “understands their struggles” but argued that allowing transgender people to compete with women would undermine gains female athletes achieved under Title IX, a law banning sex discrimination in programs that receive federal funds.
“All I’m trying to do is protect women,” Jenner said Monday.
Jenner, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, has been a vocal opponent of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. A New York native, she has long lived in the Los Angeles area and ran unsuccessfully for California governor as a Republican in 2021.
Blakeman has argued the ban is intended to both foster fair play and protect girls and women from getting injured if they play against transgender women. His executive order, however, also covers sports like swimming, gymnastics, figure skating and track, where there is no physical contact between competitors.
The executive order also takes decisions about who can play out of the hands of leagues and gives it to the government.
The Long Island Roller Rebels, a local women’s roller derby league, asked a New York court to invalidate the county order, saying it violates the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
The NY Civil Liberties Union, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the league, said Jenner's appearance was another shameful attempt to target and demonize transgender women and girls. Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, stated that Blakeman's order is discriminatory and goes against state law.
Blakeman has filed his own lawsuit seeking a federal court in New York to confirm that the order was legal.
The order is one of many anti-transgender athletic restrictions being put in place across the country. Bills preventing trans youth from participating in sports have been enacted in about 24 states, but some have been stopped by legal action.
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