'It's a safety issue': Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman defends transgender sports ban on 'Fox & Friends'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman joined co-host Will Cain to discuss his executive order banning trans athletes from women's sports and respond to New York Attorney General Letitia James' threats of overturning it on the March 2 episode of 'Fox & Friends'.
According to CNN, Blakeman signed the order on February 22 which banned transgender athletes from competing on girls’ or women’s sports leagues and teams at county facilities.
“What we are saying here today with our executive order is that if a league or team identifies themselves or advertises themselves to be a girls or women’s league or team, then biological males should not be competing in those leagues,” he had stated at the time.
NY AG Letitia James' statement
On March 1, James issued a press release demanding that the ban be rescinded, mentioning that it was a “discriminatory and transphobic executive order."
"The executive order discriminates against transgender women and girls simply for being who they are, and against teams that include transgender women and girls on their rosters, in clear violation of New York’s Civil and Human Rights Laws," it read.
The Office of the Attorney General sent over a cease-and-desist order and threatened further legal action if the ban was not removed within five days.
"The law is perfectly clear: you cannot discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression. We have no room for hate or bigotry in New York,” said James. "This executive order is transphobic and blatantly illegal. Nassau County must immediately rescind the order, or we will not hesitate to take decisive legal action.”
Bruce Blakeman's response
"I am not transphobic. We allow transgender athletes to compete against males, and compete in co-ed teams and co-ed leagues," Blakeman told Cain. "We are a welcoming county..."
"But I felt an obligation to make sure that women were not bullied in sports here in Nassau County, and this is the time of the year when we give out all of our use permits and our licenses for teams and leagues to use our ball fields and our facilities this summer," he continued.
"We wanted to make sure that women are protected ... It's a fairness issue, ... safety issue and a common sense issue."
Blakeman clarified that he was not rescinding the order at present, and his team was reviewing the cease-and-desist order of James.
"(Women) are a protected class under the constitution, and I believe I have an obligation to stop the bullying. This is nothing more than bullying. We will have a formal written response for the Attorney General, and if it has to go to court, We will abide by the decision of the courts. But we are very comfortable that my order is not only constitutional but it's (also) the correct thing to do," he added.
