National debate over transgender athletes comes to New York City

NEW YORK — New York City finds itself at the center of a push to restrict transgender girls’ athletic participation — bringing a national issue for cultural conservatives to the largest school district in the Democratic bastion of Manhattan.

The community education council for one of the city’s wealthiest school districts in Manhattan, including the tony Upper East Side, voted to pass a resolution Wednesday evening urging Mayor Eric Adams’ education officials to take up the matter. The measure calls for the city to assemble a committee that would be charged with recommending changes to the Department of Education’s 2019 gender guidelines.

That committee — which would include female athletes, parents, coaches, medical professionals and evolutionary biology experts — would review the standards developed five years ago by the school system’s first LGBTQ+ liaison, to evaluate how it affects female athletes.

It passed by a vote of 8 to 3.

The resolution’s four co-sponsors — led by parent leader Maud Maron, who’s come under fire for comments viewed as transphobic — argue the guidelines do not indicate such individuals were consulted.

“What I am saying and what this resolution calls for is to say, let’s hear from all of the impacted voices. Of course that includes the voices of trans people, trans athletes, 100 percent,” Maron said ahead of the vote. “But what I’m hearing in return is no, only one point of view gets to be heard.”

The latest effort by the Manhattan school board is largely symbolic. Resolutions are non-binding, and the city’s public school system has policies and programs in place to support LGBTQ+ students.

But it underscores the intense feelings on both sides of this debate, and comes weeks after Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an executive order to ban transgender girls in organized sports.

“The well-documented importance of sports participation in academic success, mental health, physical health, or socio-emotional well being of girls was never considered, discussed or publicly addressed when replacing the category of biological sex with gender identity in the NYCPS sports programming,” the resolution reads.

“At New York City Public Schools, all students have the right to have their gender, gender identity, and gender expression recognized and respected,” DOE spokesperson Chyann Tull said in a statement. “In our schools, every student can participate in sports and competitive athletics in accordance with their gender identity, and we prohibit any exclusion of students based on their gender identity or expression.”

Schools Chancellor David Banks himself reiterated that fact in the wake of the Long Island county’s ban on transgender athletes at public facilities.

In prepared remarks, Banks called the resolution “despicable” and “no way in line with our values.” He also accused the sponsors of “deliberately ignoring” mental health issues transgender youth face."Won't you just leave the kids alone,” he said, in remarks shared by the DOE with POLITICO.

The tension was on full display when Alaina Daniels, co-founder and executive director of progressive organization Trans formative Schools, spoke beyond the allotted time limit. The council’s president, Leonard Silverman — one of the resolution’s sponsors — temporarily adjourned the meeting as a result.

"We have had three hours of cis gender people, I am talking," said Daniels, who identifies as a white, queer, neurodivergent, nonbinary trans woman. "And so I am asking you, am I a biological female?"

“You should have respect for the process,” Silverman said.

The proposal reflects the political leanings of members like Maron, a former political candidate who faced backlash earlier this year when she attended an event hosted by the conservative group Moms for Liberty.

In private texts, she declared that “there is no such thing as trans kids” — drawing rebuke from Banks and igniting calls for her removal.

Maron is co-founder of PLACE NYC, a group that advocates for selective admissions policies in public schools.

Community Education Council members who voted against the proposal told POLITICO ahead of the meeting they were not aware of any cases in the district in which a student lost a competition or missed out on a medal or scholarship opportunity due to the policy.

“It’s a red herring,” said Gavin Healy, an elected member of the oversight organization. “I think it’s sort of a ploy and I think Maud Maron wants to be able to go on Fox News or the Megyn Kelly show and say, 'Even in this liberal enclave of Manhattan, the home of Stonewall, parents are still concerned about transgender athletes having an unfair advantage at sports.’” He was referring to the conservative news outlet and talk show host as well as the popular gay bar at the heart of the gay rights movement.

The council also passed a resolution that Healy and other members reintroduced to affirm the board’s support for LGBTQ+ students.

Advocates and parents packed the room. An online campaign sent out 4,428 letters as of Wednesday night.

Chase Strangio — a District 2 parent and a civil rights and constitutional litigator at the American Civil Liberties Union — said he's litigated cases against anti-trans laws and policies across the country.

"I will not sit idly by and see the same misinformed efforts pushed in my own school district,” Strangio said. “I will not let New York City, the birthplace and home of some of the most important and powerful trans people in history, be yet another testing ground for rhetoric that expels my community from our homes."

City Council Member Erik Bottcher, who represents the school district, read a statement by him and state lawmakers Deborah Glick, Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Tony Simone — all of whom are gay — saying they are “outraged” over the proposal and calling it a "regressive and harmful resolution."

The city’s influential teachers union is also weighing in.

"We cannot condone parent leaders demeaning or ostracizing any students, especially some of our most vulnerable," United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement. "It is past time for the city and the DOE to act."

The fight comes amid a growing trend across the country: More than 20 states have laws barring transgender youth from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.

New York, a Democratic stronghold, has not been immune to such endeavors.

Blakeman last month signed an executive order instructing athletes partaking in an organized sporting event or competition on county property to compete with their biological gender or in a coed category. New York Democrats swiftly condemned the move, which drew legal challenges from a prominent civil liberties group and a threat of legal action from the state’s attorney general.