The Long Island Roller Rebels, a roller derby league part of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, asked a New York court to overturn a Nassau County executive’s order banning transgender athletes from playing on women’s sports teams, saying the regulation violates state civil rights laws, NBC 4 in New York reports.
Founded in 2005, the Roller Rebels has hosted try-outs, exhibitions and competitions in parks around Nassau County for the last number of years, but now that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed the ban last month, the league believes it will be refused a permit to operate on park grounds because it does not discriminate if a prospective skater is nonbinary or trans. Park applications demand permit applicants specify if an organization that will use public facilities be for “male,” “female,” or “co-ed” teams. The league, represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the county regulation violates the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act and numerous state regulations regarding public lands.
“This cruel policy sends the dangerous message that trans people don’t belong in Nassau County,” Roller Rebels member Amanda “Curly Fry” Urena said in a statement. “We hope the court sees this policy for what it is — transphobic and unjust — and makes sure Nassau County is a safe space for trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive people.”