NYCLU Vows to Keep Fighting After Court Maintains Nassau Anti-Trans Sports Ban
NEW YORK – Today, the Nassau County Supreme Court denied the New York Civil Liberties Union’s motion seeking a preliminary injunction against the county’s anti-trans sports ban. The requested injunction would have blocked the enforcement of a local law banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at county-run facilities, while litigation continues. In response, New York Civil Liberties Union Staff Attorney Gabriella Larios and Long Island Roller Rebels President Curly Fry released the following statements:
“We are disappointed but undaunted by today’s decision, and we are taking all the necessary steps to appeal,” said Gabriella Larios, staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “This decision is an outlier among the many courts to have considered the same question. It is also inconsistent with longstanding state law, which makes clear that Nassau’s ban unlawfully discriminates against transgender girls and women, as well as the teams that welcome them. This ban leaves a lasting stain on the County’s government and legislature, which have been relentless in their efforts to shut trans people out of sports.”
“At a time of rising anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence across the country, keeping this ban intact is not only cruel, but it is also dangerous,” said Curly Fry, president of the Roller Rebels. “This harmful legislation sends the message that trans people don’t belong in Nassau County. Trans people belong everywhere including in sports. We hope that New York’s courts will ultimately strike down this unlawful ban and acknowledge it for what it is— transphobic and unjust.”
The local law is substantively identical to the County Executive’s order, which a NYCLU lawsuit struck down in June 2024. The NYCLU lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Long Island Roller Rebels, a Nassau County recreational women’s flat track roller derby league. Under the county law, the league, which welcomes trans women, is barred from using the county facilities. The Roller Rebels were also part of the NYCLU lawsuit which struck down County Executive Blakeman’s executive order in May 2024.
You can find case materials here: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/roller-rebels-v-county-of-nassau-et-al