By Ryan Toohill
The Biden administration’s Title IX rules that offered new rights for LGBTQ+ students were struck down across the country Jan. 9 after a federal judge in Kentucky declared they exceeded the president’s authority. At the same time, with Donald Trump’s second term under way, the president is rolling back protections for transgender people, including eliminating protections for transgender students. At his inauguration, the president declared there were only two genders—male and female—and then signed executive orders to that effect.
Even before Trump was inaugurated, though, Nassau County had passed a law last summer to restrict transgender students’ participation in athletics.
The measure, titled “Fairness for Women and Girls in Sports,” prohibits transgender women from competing in women’s athletics in county-owned facilities. It passed in the legislature along party lines, 12-5, with a dozen Republicans voting for the law. This followed a previous executive order issued last February by Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman to ban transgender women that was struck down by the New York State Supreme Court.
“When we blur the lines between male and female competition, we diminish the accomplishments, efforts and safety of all women athletes,” said Mary Studdert, communications director for the Nassau Legislature’s GOP majority.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to fairness and safety in sports for women and girls in Nassau County,” she said.
Nassau’s relatively new law and the broader national environment have raised concerns for the wellbeing of transgender youth. “I can’t tell you enough how divisive, dangerous this type of sentiment is,” said Arnold Drucker, a Democratic county legislator who represents District 17, which covers parts of Bethpage, Farmingdale, Hicksville, Massapequa, Seaford and Wantagh. “You know, our most vulnerable children now have a target on their back.”
Trump had promised at his Madison Square Garden rally last October to get “transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.”
In New York, though, transgender students hold certain rights that they may not in other parts of the country. “While potential changes to federal Title IX policies may bring uncertainty, New York State law is clear in its prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity,” said Dr. Shawn Wightman, superintendent of the Roosevelt Union Free School District, which serves more than 3,000 students.
“As a district, we remain steadfast in aligning our practices with state law and upholding our responsibility to create equitable opportunities for all students,” he noted.
“There are comprehensive state protections in a number of contexts for transgender people that wouldn’t be affected by a federal administration enforcing other laws,” said Gabriella Larios, a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The New York State Human Rights Law protects against discrimination based on gender identity in educational environments owing to an amendment passed in 2019 called the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act. Additionally, during last November’s election, New York voters passed Proposition 1, enshrining protections for transgender individuals in the state constitution.
Still, Dr. Rebecca Natow, a Hofstra University professor of educational leadership and policy, said there are likely to be skirmishes between different levels of government over transgender rights. “I could . . . see a situation where the federal government has one policy. You could have a state like New York try to step in with policies that protect transgender students,” she said. “And then you could even see a local school district say, ‘Well, we don’t want to comply with New York’s policy.’ You might even see federal, state and local conflicts, and that is a question that I think the courts are going to have to figure out.”
At the federal level, Title IX regulations prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity were only put in place last April after an arduous process. Natow said enacting new federal regulations is long, involving bureaucratic hurdles and public comment periods. That is why Biden’s regulations were only enacted during his last year in office. This January’s federal court ruling undid those regulations.
A pride flag displayed at a Long Island home that also includes black and brown stripes in honor of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individuals. // Photo by Ryan Toohill // Long Island Advocate
For transgender students, the intense clashes over their gender identity are nothing new. “Trans students have been watching the rhetoric that’s been coming out of politicians now for the last several years,” said Brian Dittmeier, director of public policy at GLSEN, a New York City-based national advocacy nonprofit for LGBTQ students.
“We see high rates of bullying, harassment and assault in schools that impact LGBTQ students based on their identity. Eighty-three percent of LGBTQ youth in schools are victimized, and unfortunately, 62% of those who have been victimized do not report that incident to school staff,” Dittmeier said.
For some, the fight for transgender rights starts in Nassau. “We can’t just sit back and accept this arbitrary and divisive type of culture that is permeating our country in our local areas,” said Drucker, the county legislator. “We have to push back against that every chance we can. It’s so dangerous, it’s so counterproductive, it’s anti-democratic, it’s against every principle that we stand for.”
