HAUPPAUGE, NY — Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is doubling down on his efforts to keep a transgender athlete ban within county facilities. He responded to a cease and desist from Attorney General Letitia James with a lawsuit in federal court against her.
Blakeman has been criticized since he issued the executive order last month.
“The attorney general made it perfectly clear that New York state law is explicit in protection of the transgender community in all aspects of their lives,” David Kilmnick, LGBT Network president, told Patch. “This is nothing more than a pure political stunt. It’s sad and it’s pathetic. It shows Long Island and Nassau County in a very bad light.”
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But Blakeman has continued to fight for the ban.
“We will protect women from bullying by transgender males who want to compete against biological females, which definitely changes the playing field,” Blakeman said last week.
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“He’s the bully here. Let’s be clear; Blakeman is the bully here when you make up false narratives and you put that out there with nothing to back it up,” Kilmnick said. “There is absolutely nothing to back that up and everything to back up transgender youth being bullied.”
Kilmnick claims the county executive is playing to the MAGA base.
“I think he just loves this attention to be in front of cameras to do something as bizarre as the things that Trump does,” he said. “Maybe what he’s doing is auditioning for a role in a Trump administration that hopefully will never happen again.”
Ahead of Blakeman’s bombshell on February 22, Blakeman did not consult with Kilmnick, he said.
“If we sat down and talked, I would have tried to provide education about data that shows, study after study, trans women do not have a competitive advantage.”
Beyond that, Kilmnick said Blakeman can turn this into a teachable moment to support the transgender community.
“We need to turn our attention and focus to making our county safer and more inclusive for the transgender community, with more services [and] more programs,” Kilmnick said.
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