In the New York suburbs, Republicans are looking to gain an edge by targeting transgender athletes

A ban on transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams at county-owned sports facilities has made a Long Island county the latest battleground for conservatives who have put cultural issues at the center of a national political strategy.

Restricting the rights of transgender people has become the focus of these efforts, and the ban in populous Nassau County has angered LGBTQ activists and Democratic officials, who have challenged it in court.

But it’s unclear whether the ban, which was introduced last month through an executive order signed by Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman, will provoke broader anger in a place where Republicans have gained ground in recent years. Or, on the other hand, if it could motivate conservative and moderate voters in a place where Democrats have a vulnerable majority.

It’s also unclear who it might affect, if at all. The executive order applies to more than 100 facilities in Nassau County, including playing fields in parks; baseball, football and soccer fields; basketball and tennis courts; ice rinks; and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, according to the attorney general’s office.

The county ban does not apply to facilities owned and operated by the area’s public school districts, although it could impact students whose teams practice or play at county facilities.

The ban could also pose a problem for youth or adult recreational leagues with transgender players. Last week, a group that uses county facilities, the Long Island Roller Rebels, an adult roller derby league, indicted Nassau County, arguing that the ban violates the state’s civil rights law.

When asked if there are currently or have ever been any transgender women or girls who have participated in sporting facilities operated by the county’s parks department, Mr. Blakeman said he believed the answer was no. But he wanted to make sure that never happened, he said.

“You don’t have to be punched in the nose in politics to take action,” Blakeman told reporters on Monday.

Nassau County is next to New York City, the seat of Democratic power. But like Republicans elsewhere, Blakeman has found culture war issues to be a winning campaign issue, often framing them in terms of parents’ rights. In 2021, he used opposition to pandemic-era mask mandates to revive his political career and defeat a centrist for his current job.

On Monday, his effort received the support of Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian and longtime Republican who is now best known as a reality TV star. She appeared on stage next to Mr Blakeman to express her love for the LGBTQ community and support for the ban, which she said would protect women and girls and defeat “the woke agenda”.

“If the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, it’s a losing battle,” said Ms. Jenner, a transgender woman. “We will win the battle.”

Ms. Jenner’s appearance in Nassau County seemed intended to let voters know that one could support the gay and transgender community while still opposing certain rights of some of its members.

“For obvious reasons, Caitlyn is the star of the show; she is an Olympic hero,” Mr. Blakeman told reporters with a broad grin. “And I will tell my legal team to include everything Caitlyn said in the letter.”

Democratic leaders have strongly pushed back on Mr. Blakeman’s order, which requires any sports organization seeking to use a provincial parks facility to “explicitly” designate its teams as male, female or coed, based on the birth gender of its members .

After the order was signed, Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Mr. Blakeman of “bullying trans kids.” The attorney general, Letitia James, called the move “transphobic and very dangerous.”

The order has been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of the roller derby league, and by Ms. James, who issued a citation. cease and desist order earlier this month in an effort to prevent the law from being enforced. In response to this Mr Blakeman said has filed its own lawsuit and said he wants a federal judge to rule that his order is legal.

It is unclear how urgent the issue is for New York voters.

No local polling data on the issue is available in Nassau County. National polls show that while the number of Americans who know a transgender person is rising, so is the number of Americans who oppose their inclusion on sports teams that match their gender identity.

According to a Gallup poll from last yearA large majority of independent (67 percent) and Republican (93 percent) voters say they oppose transgender athletes playing on teams that match their gender identity. The number of Democrats who support their right to do so fell from 55 percent in 2021 to 47 percent in 2023.

Interviews with Long Island residents reveal that opinions are similarly complicated.

Claire Kelty, 38, a physical therapist who works in Mineola, said she and a transgender friend had talked about the issue and agreed that there were differences in physical strength between those assigned male or female at birth.

“It could very well be an unfair advantage,” Ms Kelty said. She said she understood why Ms. Jenner would support Mr. Blakeman’s executive order.

“It makes sense, especially for her,” Ms. Kelty said. “I respect Caitlyn Jenner.”

But Marissa Blanko, 21, a nursing student in Mineola, didn’t. She said Ms. Jenner was a hypocrite for opposing the rights of transgender athletes.

“Why would she say, ‘Oh no, I’m against it’?” Mrs. Blanko said. “Look at yourself.”

Others, however, said Ms. Jenner’s athletic career in men’s sports — a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a star on the front of a Wheaties box — was exactly the point.

“If it was the other way around I would take her in her prime to compete against women – she will just dominate,” says Ronnie Stephen, 36. “I’m all for change but it’s all about fairness.”

The LGBTQ movement has long relied on the idea that knowing a gay or transgender person would make a heterosexual or cisgender person more likely to support LGBTQ rights.

But it’s not clear whether that assumption applies to the issue of transgender sports: Over the past two years, support for transgender athletes has actually fallen slightly more among those who know a transgender person than among those who don’t.

This is evident from the Gallup pollOf those who knew a transgender person in 2021, 40 percent said that person should be allowed to play on the sports team of their choice, but that figure dropped 10 points to just 30 percent in 2023. Among those who don’t know a transgender person, support fell per person for transgender athletes in the same time frame by 8 points to 23 percent.

With a critical election looming in November, both Democratic and Republican candidates have said they plan to campaign vigorously in Nassau County.

But it’s unclear whether Blakeman’s new signature issue will motivate voters to cast ballots. “This should not be a partisan issue,” he said Monday. “This is a matter of common sense.”

Some residents said they had never thought about it at all. One resident, Maria Williams, 21, a nursing student in Jericho, said transgender athletes were none of her business.

“I really don’t think about this,” she said. “I just don’t care.”