Federal judge tosses challenge trying to protect anti-transgender ban by New York county officials

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by Nassau County executives and the parents of a local student seeking to protect its ban on trans athletes using county facilities aligned with their gender identity.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued the executive order on Feb. 22. Any group seeking a use permit for the county’s parks and facilities must now designate their group as either male, female, or coed. Any female team with a trans woman player would be denied a permit.

The order effectively banned trans female athletes from the county’s 100 athletic facilities including fields, basketball and tennis courts, ice rinks, swimming pools, locker facilities, and more unless they played on a male or coed team.

In response, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the order “transphobic” and sent a cease and desist order to the county on March 1. On March 16, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined a lawsuit by a local roller derby team with a trans player objecting to the executive order. In response, Blakerman and Nassau County joined a lawsuit objecting to James’s actions filed by Marc and Jeanine Mullens, the parents of a minor female in the county.

Judge Nusrat Jahan Choudhury dismissed the case against James on April 12. James quickly hailed the decision in a statement provided to the media.

“This decision is a tremendous victory for justice and the rule of law, but our work here is not done. County Executive Blakeman’s executive order is transphobic, and we have no room for hate in New York,” James said in response to Choudhury’s ruling. “It’s past time for Nassau County to rescind this order and treat all our communities with the basic respect and dignity they deserve.”

The ruling by Choudhury does not overturn the executive order but instead allows enforcement proceedings against the order by James to continue.

The case had earlier drawn the support of former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, who had competed as a male but now identifies as a trans woman.