A New York appeals court has invalidated a Nassau County law that barred transgender girls and women from competing on women’s sports teams at county facilities, siding with Attorney General Letitia James in her dispute with County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
The four-judge panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that had upheld the restrictions. It found that the county’s law conflicted with New York’s statewide protections against discrimination.
Nassau County plans to keep challenging the decision. County Attorney Thomas Adams said officials were reviewing the ruling and intended to continue the appeals process.
The ruling came a day after Blakeman lost his bid to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who won reelection Tuesday. James was also reelected.
The four judges who joined the decision were appointed to the appellate court by Democratic governors. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed Betsy Barros and Deborah Dowling; Hochul appointed Barry Warhit and selected Lisa Ottley earlier this year. State election records show Barros, Dowling and Warhit have run as Democrats. Ottley ran for state Supreme Court in 2018 with Democratic, Republican and Conservative party support.
The court concluded that the county’s permit rules were overridden by the state Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law, which bar discrimination based on gender identity or expression. It directed the lower court to declare the measure invalid under the state Constitution and the Municipal Home Rule Law.
James said transgender athletes should be able to take part in sports like other athletes and argued that the county could not exclude them. She described the policy as unlawful and said it had interfered with athletes playing alongside their teammates.
Under the law, groups applying to hold sporting events at county facilities had to classify themselves as male, female or coed according to participants’ sex at birth. Female events could not receive permits if they included male competitors, though female athletes could compete in male or coed categories.
The law did not bar transgender athletes from every sport. Instead, it prevented women’s and girls’ teams that included transgender female athletes from obtaining permits at county facilities. James’ office said the restrictions applied to more than 100 locations, including sports fields, courts, pools and ice rinks.
Blakeman first introduced the policy through an executive order in February 2024. A judge later struck it down, finding that he did not have the authority to issue it. The county Legislature then passed a law restoring the restrictions, which Blakeman signed on July 15, 2024. James and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed separate lawsuits.
The civil liberties group represented the Long Island Roller Rebels, an adult women’s roller derby league that welcomes transgender participants. In October 2025, State Supreme Court Justice R. Bruce Cozzens upheld the county law, accepting its arguments about safety and fairness and noting that transgender athletes could participate in coed leagues. The county also argued that Title IX supported using biological sex to define athletic categories.
That same month, the appeals court granted the Roller Rebels a preliminary injunction, reversing an earlier decision that had declined to temporarily block the law. The panel said restricted access to private facilities had reduced the league’s practice opportunities and harmed its ranking. Requiring the team to classify itself as mixed-sex could also threaten its status with its governing body and make it harder to find opponents.
The dispute is part of a wider national debate over transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld challenged restrictions in West Virginia and Idaho, finding that schools could use biological sex to determine eligibility for female teams under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The decision allowed those state policies to stand but did not require other states to adopt similar rules.
James said she would continue working to ensure that New Yorkers were not excluded from public life because of their identity.
