This New York roller derby team is taking on a ban against trans women in sports the Long Island roller Rebels have skated with transgender and gender non-conforming people for nearly two decades our policy uh is explicit in that we are an inclusive space this is Amanda Urena the vice president of the
Rebels whose Derby name is cly fry we allow cisgender women transgender women and non-binary expansive uh gender expansive people to uh be in our space play in our league um as long as they uh get up to a certain level of skating the boisterous contact sport has long been a
Safe haven for some lgbtq plus people with inclusion and safety always emphasized but an executive order issued by Nassau County now requires the team to expel any members who were not assigned female at Birth if they want to book County facilities it’s a violation on everything we stand for this is
Roller Rebels coach cat Caroll we want people to feel safe here and they’re screaming no they’re not allowed to feel safe and that’s unacceptable the team represented by the New York civil liberties Union is fighting back with a lawsuit Gabriella Larios is a staff attorney with the
Nyclu just want to play with their teammates and now they are subject to the sweeping requirement that in order to use County facilities they have to police the gender identity of their peers and that’s simply unacceptable and in violation of New York State’s anti-discrimination laws Republican politicians in at least 23 US states
Have advanced scores of laws and rules in recent years blocking transgender athletes from female teams it’s part of a broader legislative effort targeting healthc care for transgender people and their access to public spaces but such orders are rare in New York Nassau County Executive Bruce blakeman says it’s needed to protect cisgender women
And girls they can compete in a co-ed League they can compete in a transgender league if they choose to form one the legality of the order is now being weighed by at least two courts days after it was issued New York attorney general Leticia James wrote to
Demand he resend it or face legal consequences calling it transphobic and blatantly illegal in 2020 the US Supreme Court ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexuality or gender amounts to a legal sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act blakeman has since sued James in the federal district cour court
On Long Island the lawsuit contends that transgender people are not a protected class under federal law as the legal battles play out roller Rebel players emphasize that trans women are not automatically the best players on the rink skilled as some are and all teams in the league subscribe to the same
Eligibility rules laid out by the women’s flat track Derby Association the sports international governing body which allows quote all transgender women intersex women and gendere expansive participants to join derby team teams it’s gross it’s not something that we would like to participate in we don’t want to police our other um players
Bodies like that’s just not for us to do
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