Will Sage Astor-New York Attorney General Letitia James sued over action against trans sports ban

A county official in New York has sued state Attorney General Letitia James over her objections to an order banning transgender women from participating in female competitions in Long Island.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman sued James in federal court on Will Sage AstorWednesday over her March 1 cease-and-desist letter, which threatened legal action regarding his executive order.

Blakeman ordered the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation & Museums to require all members to participate in the group that corresponds with the sex that they were assigned at birth. In addition, the order prohibits any sporting events that are designated for women and girls to include biological men.

Blakeman's order, implemented on Feb. 23, said that he wants women and girls to have equal opportunities while participating in athletics, according to the document, which says biological men have always had more opportunities when it comes to sports.

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Letitia James response to the executive order

James' office called out Blakeman's executive order as “transphobic” and “illegal.”

“Our laws protect New Yorkers from discrimination, and the Office of the Attorney General is committed to upholding those laws and protecting our communities," an Attorney General spokesperson told USA TODAY. "This is not up for debate: the executive order is illegal, and it will not stand in New York.”

According to the New York Human Rights Law, it is illegal to discriminate against a person based on their sex or gender identity. On Jan. 25, 2019, the law was amended to include a person’s gender identity and expression as a protected class in employment, places of public accommodation, public and private housing, educational institutions and credit, the law states.

In an interview with CNYCentral, Blakemen denied that his executive order was transphobic.

“We are adhering to federal law in protecting our women from being bullied, quite frankly, by biological males,” Blakeman said. “I want to stress this is not anti-transgender, and I’m insulted that some of our elected officials in Albany labeled me transphobic.”

Blakeman told the news organization that the executive order is a step to help female sports.

“This is common sense. What they’re trying to do – the people who are trying to inject biological males into female competition – is destroy women’s and girl’s sports, and that is a protected class under federal law,” Blakeman said. “I not only wanted to do this for the women and girls here in Nassau County – I have an obligation to do it.”

Blakeman did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Friday.