A Biden-appointed federal judge has denied a request by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to block a cease-and-desist order issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James that requires Blakeman to rescind the county’s ban on transgender girls playing in girls’ sports in schools and county-managed facilities.
In Feb., Blakeman, a Republican, bucked the state’s liberal establishment and announced that athletes born as males would not be allowed to play as females in the county. With an executive order, Blakeman further ordered that any league that allows boys to play on a girls’ team will also be barred from county-managed facilities.
Almost immediately, left-wing New York Attorney General Letitia James demanded that Nassau County stop protecting girls’ sports from transgenderism and claimed that the county violated the deep blue state’s “human rights” laws.
New York Attorney General Letitia James presents the findings of an independent investigation into accusations by multiple women that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed them on August 3, 2021, in New York City. Independent investigators Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark concluded that the Governor sexually harassed multiple women. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
“The Order’s immediate effect is to force sports leagues to make an impossible choice: discriminate against transgender women and girls, in violation of New York law, or find somewhere else to play,” the AG’s cease-and-desist letter sent to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman read.
Blakeman challenged the cease-and-desist letter in federal court. Still, on Thursday, Second Circuit District Judge Nusrat Jahan Choudhury ruled in favor of James and insisted that Blakeman’s order violates the Empire State’s human rights laws, and ruled that Blakeman’s request to prevent the state from enforcing its law “falls far short of meeting the high bar” to secure the county chief’s request.
Woodbury, N.Y.: Nassau County, New York, Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks at a Long Island Association (LIA) event on January 5, 2024 in Woodbury, New York. (Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Choudhury, who was appointed to the bench by Joe Biden in 2022, also stated that Blakeman’s executive order likely violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, according to The Hill.
As a result of the left-wing judge’s ruling, Blakeman will have to rescind his executive order and lift the ban on transgender athletes, barring further lawsuits he may try to file.
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