Taking sides on transgender bill

A bill that started as a twinkle in Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s eye, and based on three questionable cases of injury in the entire United States, is banning transgender girls from playing on county facilities as part of girls’ teams [“Nassau trans bill is a loser,” Editorial, June 28].

He’ll need lots of luck in court as he wastes our money and time. He took advantage of a lack of understanding about transgender girls, sacrificing them to send a signal. He used young, already vulnerable humans as political tools, and there is nothing more ugly.

Much was made by the Republican-controlled Legislature about safety. The county attorney said even one girl injured is too many, yet 5 million kids sustain sports injuries, nearly 3 million of whom are seen in emergency rooms each year. They are not injured by transgender girls.

This action sounds a lot like discrimination. Some sports, such as football and soccer, are exceptionally dangerous, with high rates of traumatic brain injuries, but we aren’t banning those sports. This isn’t about protecting anyone. This is a signal, and it’s obvious.

 — Karin Johnson, Rockville Centre

The writer is cofounder of RVC Pride.

All Bruce Blakeman is trying to do is slow the misogyny train speeding down a slippery slope in the United States. No doubt, as the editorial points out, his solution is far from perfect. But he’s making a statement about recent bullying and attempts by biological men to infiltrate and ultimately dominate women’s sports.

I thank Blakeman for taking on this issue. Watching a minority of women fight for trans women’s rights baffles me and works to overturn hard-fought basic rights for women.

As a male who matured in the 1970s, I applauded Title IX and the equality for women it helped foment in many ways, not just sports. Would we have a Caitlin Clark without Title IX? This is just one example of what’s at stake. When you lift one, you lift all. Biological men competing in women’s sports is the ultimate form of misogyny.

Maybe it’s best that politicians and the media step away from the fray. Perhaps we should let women decide for themselves since they are the ones victimized. Beware the slippery slope, people, because one day you may be on it.

 — John Vatalaro, Sayville

Laws should be proposed to address a particular problem that exists and cannot be handled in any other way. Nassau County Republicans propose a law banning transgender females from playing sports on girls’ teams ostensibly to prevent possible injuries to biological girls on competing teams.

Are there any facts to support this concern? Are all transgender females good enough athletes to even make the team?

When I served in an armed service, I saw male recruits in boot camp who couldn’t even do pushups.

We have too many laws, and most turn out to either be unenforceable or ignored.

It’s time for Republicans to focus on more serious problems such as refusing to work with Democrats to make this a better country for everyone. And I’m a registered Republican.

— John Grosso, Jackson Heights, Queens

When my older son, now 37, was in junior high school, he was on the wrestling team. Several opposing teams had girls who were allowed to compete on these once all-boy teams. Unfortunately for our boys, it became a lose-lose situation. If they won, it was said they won because it was a girl. And if they lost, the teasing was out of control.

A boy on our team forfeited one match — to a girl — because he was a Mormon and uncomfortable with this kind of physical contact.

I have transgender family members and have nothing against their lifestyle. However, their bid to participate in sports, based on a different gender they identify with, is unfair to the person’s teammates. Just as it was unfair to put our team’s boys in this situation, it is just as unfair to allow males who now identify as females to compete on female teams.

Competitive athletics has always been about fairness. Not allowing transgender females on female teams is not discrimination. It is about separate but equal competition for all. Nothing more, nothing less.

 — Andrea Bretscher, Valley Stream

Whatever viewpoint one may have on the role of transgender athletes in competitive sports, this bill is an indication of emotions that fuel the GOP and the extreme part of the party.

It’s not that one can’t rationally think that transgender females do have a competitive advantage in certain athletic contests. With all the problems confronting Nassau County, the GOP opts to take up this bill, an assault on an already marginalized group.

This is how Bruce Blakeman chooses to marshal his troops?

 — Richard J. Brenner, Miller Place