By Hank Russell
Local elected officials shared their reactions after the Supreme Court voted in support of state laws regarding transgender athletes.
On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to allow states to impose restrictions on transgender athletes and upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia precluding biological males from taking part in women’s sports, according to Reuters.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said, “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.”
Kavanaugh went on to write that sports are different from “an employment or educational opportunity” because equal protection may require the federal government to “generally treat an individual without regard to the individual’s sex.” But when it comes to sports, he opined, “everyone agrees that the states may maintain separate women’s and men’s teams — in other words, that the states may make distinctions based on sex — because of the inherent physical differences between women and men.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who signed an executive order two years ago banning transgender females from playing organized sports on women’s teams on county-owned or -run fields, applauded the court’s decision.
“We made history in Nassau County when I signed the nation’s first executive order protecting girls’ sports,” said Blakeman, who is running for governor against Kathy Hochul. “Today, the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutional rights of women and girls to be protected from unfair and unsafe competition by biological males. But while the Court stood up for our daughters, Kathy Hochul continues putting them in danger by forcing biological males onto their teams.”
Meanwhile, Attorney General Letitia James accused the Supreme Court of continuing to go “down this dangerous and harmful path” and allowing “states and localities [to] pass cruel and discriminatory laws targeting the trans community.”
“So much of the conversation around transgender athletes forgets that there are real people impacted by these policies,” James continued. “Sports teams are essential settings for young adults to build camaraderie, friendships, and life-long skills. Today’s ruling ignores fact, science, and decency in favor of abandoning young trans people nationwide. I will continue to fight for trans New Yorkers against discriminatory policies and am proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community today and every day.”