Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner is backing a New York county’s effort to ban transgender athletes from competing against biological women, arguing that doing so will protect competition in female sports.
“You have to compete in the biological sex that you were born. This is critical to protecting the integrity of competition in women’s sports,” Jenner, a Fox News contributor, said in Mineola, New York, on Monday.
“My fear is that if this woke agenda that’s out there… the DEI world that’s out there, if this continues, it’ll ruin women’s sports over the next 10, 20 years. Let’s stop it now while we can.”
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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an executive order last month denying permits to use facilities if a biological male is on a girls’ team playing with other biological females. He joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss how he garnered Jenner’s support for the measure and what legal hurdles are on the horizon with Attorney General Letitia James.
“We knew Caitlyn’s position on the issue and that she supported my executive order,” he told Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday.
“So we reached out to her and asked her if she would come to New York and join with us to show solidarity for the ban. And she was very gracious. She came to Nassau County yesterday. She laid out a very well-reasoned and articulate dissertation based on fact, why biological females should not have to compete against biological males.”
“It’s unsafe, it’s unfair, and we want women to be able to play on a level playing field,” he continued.
The order, which is now embattled in state and federal legal woes, said the “action was necessary to maintain fairness for women’s athletic opportunities.”
The rule states: “any sports, leagues, organizations, teams, programs, or sports entities must expressly designate as one of the following based on the biological sex at birth of the team members/participants when applying for a use and occupancy permit to utilize Nassau County Parks property for the purposes of organizing a sporting event or competition: 1) Males, men or boys or 2) Females, women or girls or 3) Coed or mixed, including males and females.”
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After signing the executive order, James issued a cease-and-desist order against the county. Then the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a women’s roller derby team, calling the order a “harmful, transphobic policy.”
In response, Blakeman filed a lawsuit in federal court against James and the state of New York, alleging that her actions are “unconstitutionally discriminating” against women and girls.
“Letitia James sent this cease and desist order to me, and, I reviewed it with my lawyers, and we decided to sue her,” Blakeman said. “So we actually initiated a lawsuit in federal court in the Eastern District of New York to stop her from trying to enforce her cease and desist order. And then shortly thereafter, I was sued by the New York Civil Liberties Union and some… roller hockey team that wanted to have transgender biological males, compete against females.”
“We’re very confident because women are a protected class under federal law. Since Title IX 50 years ago, the federal government has recognized that we have to have a level playing field for women,” he continued.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report.
