1 month ago
SEAFORD, N.Y. (AP) — They zip astir nan rink, equipped pinch helmets, pads and mouthguards. They push, bump and occasionally clang retired arsenic they jostle for position connected nan hardwood floor.
But for nan women of nan Long Island Roller Rebels, their biggest conflict is taking spot extracurricular nan suburban strip-mall roller rink wherever they’re girding for nan upcoming roller derby season.
The astir 20-year-old amateur convention is suing a region leader complete an executive bid meant to forestall women’s and girl’s leagues and teams pinch transgender players from utilizing county-run parks and fields. The league’s ineligible effort, backed by nan New York Civil Liberties Union, has thrust it into nan nationalist chat complete nan authorities of transgender athletes.
Amanda Urena, nan league’s vice president, said location was ne'er immoderate mobility nan group would return a stand.
“The full constituent of derby has been to beryllium this point wherever group consciousness welcome,” said nan 32-year-old Long Island native, who competes arsenic “Curly Fry” and identifies arsenic queer, astatine a caller believe astatine United Skates of America successful Seaford. “We want trans women to cognize that we want you to travel play pinch us, and we’ll do our very champion to support fighting and making judge that this is simply a safe abstraction for you to play.”
The February edict from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman affects much than 100 nationalist accommodation successful nan region of astir 1.4 cardinal conscionable eastbound of Queens.
Sports leagues and teams seeking permits to play aliases believe successful county-run parks must disclose whether they person aliases let transgender women aliases girls. Any statement that allows them to play will beryllium denied a permit, though men’s leagues and teams aren’t affected.
Bills restricting trans youths’ expertise to participate successful sports have already passed successful immoderate 24 states arsenic portion of an explosion of anti-trans legislation connected galore subjects successful caller years. The largest schoolhouse territory successful Manhattan is among localities besides weighing a ban, pursuing a schoolhouse committee vote past week.
The Roller Rebels sought a region licence this period successful hopes of hosting practices and games successful county-owned rinks successful nan upcoming season, arsenic they person successful anterior years. But they expect to beryllium denied, since nan statement is unfastened to anyone who identifies arsenic a female and has 1 transgender subordinate already connected nan roster.
The prohibition will besides make it difficult for nan league, which has 2 teams and astir 25 players, to enlistee and will wounded its expertise to big competitions pinch different leagues, Urena said.
State Attorney General Letitia James has demanded nan region rescind nan ban, saying it violates authorities anti-discrimination laws, while Blakeman has asked a national judge to uphold it.
That a roller derby convention has go nan look of guidance isn’t surprising: nan athletics has agelong been a haven for queer and transgender women, said Margot Atwell, who played successful a women’s convention successful New York City and wrote “Derby Life,” a book astir roller derby.
The sport, which dates astatine slightest to nan 1930s and enjoyed its heyday successful nan 1970s, involves 2 teams racing astir a way arsenic their designated “jammer” attempts to people points by lapping nan different skaters, who are allowed to usage their hips, chests and shoulders to slow them down.
The latest revival started successful nan early 2000s and has been sustained by LGBTQ+ people, pinch leagues often taking portion successful Pride parades and holding fundraising matches, Atwell said.
“You travel successful present and you say, ‘I’m a trans woman. I’m a nonbinary person. I’m genderqueer.’ OK? We judge you,” said Caitlin Carroll, a Roller Rebel who competes arsenic “Catastrophic Danger.” “The world is scary enough. You should person a safe spot to be.”
Blakeman has said he wants to guarantee female athletes tin compete safely and fairly. He held a news conference past week pinch Caitlyn Jenner, who won Olympic golden successful nan men’s decathlon successful 1976 and later underwent a gender transition. Jenner, a Republican who’s often astatine governmental likelihood pinch nan greater transgender community, has endorsed nan ban.
Blakeman, a Republican who was elected successful 2021, has said constituents asked his agency to act. But galore critics disregard nan prohibition arsenic governmental posturing, noting he has acknowledged location person been nary section complaints involving transgender players connected women’s teams.
“This is simply a solution successful hunt of a problem,” said Emily Santosus, a 48-year aged transgender female connected Long Island who hopes to subordinate a women’s softball team. “We’re not bullies. We’re nan ones that get bullied.”
The ones who will suffer astir aren’t elite athletes, but children still trying to navigate their gender identities, added Grace McKenzie, a transgender female who plays for nan New York Rugby Club’s women’s team.
“Cruel is nan only connection that I tin usage to picture it,” nan 30-year-old Brooklyn resident said. “Kids are utilizing sports astatine that property to build relationships, make friendships, create teamwork skills, activity skills and, frankly, conscionable thief shield them from each nan dislike they look arsenic transgender kids already.”
In nan larger chat astir trans women successful sports, each broadside points to constricted investigation to support their opinion. And bans often do not separate betwixt girls and women who took puberty blockers arsenic portion of their modulation — stunting nan improvement of a male-typical physique — and those who didn’t, thing 1 New York advocator pointed out.
The bid successful Nassau County puts immoderate younger trans girls astatine greater consequence by perchance pitting them against boys instead, said Juli Grey-Owens, leader of Gender Equality New York.
“They are not hitting puberty, truthful they’re not growing, they’re not getting that assemblage strength, nan endurance, nan agility, nan large feet, nan ample legs,” Grey-Owens said.
The prohibition could moreover lead to cisgender female athletes who are beardown and muscular being falsely branded transgender and disqualified, arsenic has happened elsewhere, said Shane Diamond, a transgender man who plays recreational LGBTQ+ crystal lucky successful New York City.
“It creates a strategy wherever immoderate young female who doesn’t fresh nan stereotypical thought of femininity and womanhood is astatine consequence of having her gender questioned aliases gender policed,” Diamond said.
A 2022 Washington Post-University of Maryland Poll recovered that 55% of Americans were opposed to allowing trans women and girls to compete pinch different women and girls successful precocious schoolhouse sports, and 58% opposed it for assemblage and pro sports.
Two cisgender female athletes said aft listening to Jenner that men are stronger than women, truthful it will ne'er beryllium adjacent if transgender women and girls are allowed to compete.
“There is simply a chance I would get wounded successful those situations,” said Trinity Reed, 21, who plays lacrosse astatine Nassau County’s Hofstra University.
Mia Babino, 18, plays section lucky astatine nan State University of New York astatine Cortland and plans to transportation to Nassau County’s Molloy University.
“We’ve worked very difficult to get to wherever we are and to play astatine a assemblage level,” she said.
But that cognition runs against everything diversion title stands for, and it sells women and their imaginable short, countered Urena, of nan Roller Rebels.
“If group gave up playing sports because they thought they were going to lose, we wouldn’t person a sports industry,” they said. “I emotion playing against group that are faster and stronger because that’s really I get better.”
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Follow Philip Marcelo astatine twitter.com/philmarcelo.
