An appeals court judge called a controversial Nassau County law banning transgender women from competing in certain women’s sporting events at county facilities a “violation” during a Thursday hearing.
The court told John Carnevale, the attorney representing Nassau, that the law violates the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which added gender identity or expression as a protected category under the state’s Human Rights Law in 2019.
Nassau County did not respond to a request for comment.
The Sept. 25 hearing took place in response to the Nassau County Supreme Court, a state court under the appellate court, refusing to pause enforcement of the county law while the New York Civil Liberties Union challenges its legality on behalf of its client, the Long Island Roller Rebels. The adult women’s roller skating team has at least one member impacted by the legislation.
Gabriella Larios, an NYCLU attorney representing the Long Island Roller Rebels in a suit against the county, said the Nassau law should not be allowed to remain in effect because it violates state human and civil rights law protecting transgender people from discrimination.
“The Roller Rebels are facing ongoing harm by being subject to this discriminatory law every day that it is in effect,” Larios said. “We believe that the state law is on our side and protects the rights of trans women and girls to participate in sports alongside other girls.”
She also said the county’s arguments about safety and fairness in women’s sports do not hold water as the league has its own “robust safety protocols” and asks all those competing to sign waivers acknowledging that they may be playing against transgender women, which is their right under state law.
“One of the key things about this case is that Nassau County has made up a controversy here, and it’s just targeting a vulnerable population,” Larios said. “This is a law that is just really divorced from any of the goals that it allegedly has. The county talks about safety and fairness and competition, but none of that applies when you have an adult recreational league with its own internal rules that are inclusive of transgender people. It is nothing more than an attack on the dignity of transgender people.”
She said she believed the argument her team presented last Thursday was “incredibly strong,” and she was “excited and eager to get a decision from the appellate court,” which could take months.
If the appellate court rules in favor of the Roller Rebels, the county’s trans athlete ban law will be temporarily blocked until the case at the state level is decided, Larios said.
She added that if the appellate court decides the law should be blocked while the case against it is being heard, the state court will likely rule that the county’s law violates state law and cannot continue to stand.
“In order to find that the lower court did something wrong, the appellate court would have to analyze how the lower court applied the state law,” Larios said. “Our position is that the lower court got state law wrong, and that’s why this decision from below should be overturned. In order to reach its conclusion, the appellate court is going to have to analyze whether the Nassau law violates state law.”
The legislation banning transgender women from playing in certain county facilities was passed along party lines in 2024. It came after County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s executive order banning transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams in county facilities was struck down by the State Supreme Court because Blakeman did not have the authority to issue it without legislative action.
It was not yet known when a ruling in the case will be made.
