A Federal Judge Has Tossed Out a Lawsuit Defending a Trans Sports Ban in a New York County

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A federal judge has paved the way for New York State Attorney General Letitia James to move forward with her challenge to a Nassau County executive order that bars trans girls from taking part in girls’ sports at county sports facilities.

On Friday, District Court Judge Nusrat J. Choudhury dismissed a separate lawsuit from Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman against James that was intended to stop the attorney general from challenging the policy, which was established by Blakeman, a Republican official elected in 2021.

Issued in February of this year, the executive order banned sports organizations that allow trans women and girls to compete on women’s’ teams from using Nassau County athletic facilities. It also applies to adult recreational groups. The order impacts more than 100 sites throughout New York’s Nassau County on Long Island, as Newsday reported in February. Organizations seeking a permit to use Nassau County facilities such as basketball courts, swimming pools, and football fields must “expressly designate” whether the teams are male, female, or coed based on team members’ “biological sex at birth.”

The sweeping ban prevents trans girls and women from participating in any practice or competition at Nassau County facilities.

Blakeman’s lawsuit claimed that James sent him a letter telling him to rescind the executive order for constitutional violations. As News 12 Long Island reported, Blakeman specifically called out Choudhury in his reaction to Friday’s decision, saying in a statement, “I am shocked that a federal judge with a background as a Civil Liberties Union lawyer would not give girls and women their day in court. We vehemently disagree with the decision and will appeal.”

Choudhury’s decision is the second time the judge has ruled against Blakeman in recent weeks. In April, Choudhury denied Blakeman’s request for a restraining order to prevent James from blocking his executive order.

“This [order] is written in a breathtakingly broad way to capture school sports using Nassau facilities, rec leagues, intramural leagues,” Bobby Hodgson, the New York Civil Liberties Union’s director of LGBTQ rights litigation and a supervising attorney, told Them in March. “Anybody who wants to throw a one-off women’s charity volleyball tournament on a Nassau court, that would all be subject to this executive order.”

In addition to pressure from James, the executive order also faces a legal challenge from the Roller Rebels, an adult women’s roller derby league based in Nassau County. On March 11, alongside the New York Civil Liberties Union, the group filed a lawsuit against Blakeman.

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