Nassau County exec Bruce Blakeman says he's 'protecting women' on 'Fox & Friends' after federal judge blocks his trans athlete ban
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman joined host Will Cain to discuss the challenges he faced by his executive order to ban transgender athletes from women's sports in the county-run facilities on Saturday, April 6, 2024, episode of 'Fox & Friends.'
"A federal judge has already rejected the county's request to enforce the ban," Cain said. The judgment read, "There are no facts in the record showing that any specific cisgender woman or girl in Nassau County will face imminent injury in an athletic event involving a transgender woman or girl."
Nassau County exec Bruce Blakeman reacts to the judicial setback
Claiming that the judgment would not put a stop to his executive order, Bruce Blakeman said, "Merely, we were asking the judge to tell Attorney General Letitia James to stop because we were doing the right thing."
"We are protecting women. They are a protected class under federal law and the constitution, and according to the logic of the judge's ruling, I would have to wait till a little girl was paralyzed before I could act. I don't think that's the law, and I think we should be able to protect women, make sure that there is fair competition and that it's not an unsafe environment," he continued.
"If Caitlyn Jenner (former male athlete) ... who now identifies as a transgendered female ... stands with me and says, Bruce Blakeman is right and Nassau County is right, she would know better than anybody else that there is a tremendous advantage with a biological male competing against a female," he added.
Legal challenges ahead for Bruce Blakeman
The trans athlete ban has faced multiple legal challenges since being signed by Blakeman, with New York Attorney General Letitia James issuing a cease-and-desist order against the county on March 1, claiming that the ban was "discriminatory and transphobic".
"Well, my executive order is still in effect," said Blakeman. "There is a case pending in federal court, there is a case pending in state court. The New York Civil Liberties Union has taken me to court, I feel very confident that we will win that case," he added.
"This is just common sense. They're trying to make it complicated, but it's very simple. Biological males are bigger, faster, and stronger. If they compete against females in all-girls teams or all-women teams, they have the competitive advantage and they have the ability to hurt women and make it unsafe for them to compete... I don't know where this country is going that people who are supposedly smart can't see the logic that we have here in Nassau County," he added.
