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After an at-times heated discussion between lawmakers and public commenters at a Nassau County legislative committee meeting on Monday, June 10, a bill aiming to bar transgender women from women’s sports passed an initial committee vote.
The bill, which was introduced by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, would require sports teams to designate whether they are a female, male, or co-ed team and is aimed to prevent “biological males” from competing on women’s teams.
Following the initial proposal and multiple public comments, which lasted over 50 minutes, the committee voted 4-3 to pass the bill. It will now face a full legislative vote at a session on Monday, June 24.
The New York Civil Liberties Union said it would take legal action should the bill continue to move forward, according to ABC7 New York.
It echoes an executive order that Blakeman originally introduced in February 2022, which attempted to transgender women from participating in women’s sports at all county-run facilities.
Blakeman claimed that the move was meant to protect women. He was taken to court just weeks after announcing the order, where it was struck down in May by Judge Francis Ricigliano at the Nassau County Supreme Court, who wrote in his decision:
“The County Executive issued an Executive Order aimed at preventing transgender women from participating in girls' and women's athletics at Nassau County parks, despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment providing the County Executive with the authority to issue such an order.”
Nassau County Democratic Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton stated that “passing such a law will only cost the county millions in legal fees and taxpayer money, funds that should be used for repaving our roads and providing tax relief.”
She continued, calling the bill “blatantly illegal,” calling back to a cease-and-desist issued by Attorney General Letitia James following the executive order.
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