New York executive Bruce Blakeman filed a lawsuit to block state Attorney General Letitia James from stopping his order that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in events at county-run facilities.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of New York, is on behalf of Nassau County and local residents: a 16-year-old female volleyball player and her parents.
Last week, James demanded that Blakeman immediately repeal his executive order and said the transgender athlete ban is in “clear violation” of state law. James sent Blakeman a cease-and-desist letter and threatened that further legal action would be forthcoming if he did not rescind the order within five days.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that “it is undeniable” that men have received more recognition and greater opportunities than women. While women’s sports have made “tremendous progress,” they argue allowing biological males to compete with biological females “erases all the hard-earned progress” and creates an “unsafe and dangerous environment.”