Caitlyn Jenner says trans athletes cause ‘physical harm’ as ex-Olympian backs Nassau County ban in girls sports
Ex-Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner on Monday backed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s edict banning transgender athletes from competing against biological girls in competitive sporting events held at the county’s 100 ballfields and athletic facilities.
Jenner — arguably one the world’s most famous trans public figures — said that biological males should not be allowed to compete in female sports in order to “protect the integrity of competition.”
“Trans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long-protected class under Title IX, and causing physical harm,” said the former athlete, né Bruce Jenner, who won the 1976 gold medal for the decathlon and famously appeared on the cover of the Wheaties cereal box.
“The difference between men and women exists based on DNA, or your chromosomes…there are massive advantages and undeniable differences from male development, basically going through male puberty,” Jenner continued, appearing at a press conference with Blakeman, who issued the ban via executive order last month.
“The solution is simple: when it comes to athletics… you have to compete in the biological sex in which you were born,” Jenner said. “This is critical to protect the integrity of competition in women’s sports.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union last week filed a lawsuit against Nassau County and Blakeman, claiming the ban was discriminatory against trans athletes in violation of the the state’s human rights and civil rights law.
State Attorney General Letitia James also claims the “transphobic” ban is illegal, and issued a “cease and desist order” to Blakeman to scrap it.
Instead, he sued James in federal court.
Jenner, agreeing with Blakeman, said allowing trans girls to compete against biological females discriminates against women under federal law — and took shots at both James and President Biden, saying they were violating the rights of women.
“In New York, we have an activist Attorney General, Letitia James, that alleges and seems to think that state laws and preferences supersede federal law, specifically Title IX and the 14th Amendment of the US the Constitution, which guarantees no state shall deny a person equal protection under the law,” Jenner said.
“In the United States, we have a president, Joe Biden, who has called for an amendment to Title IX as we know it. In effect it erases the protections and the hard-fought battles that women have fought in sports.”
Jenner, 74, emphasized that she has “empathy for all LGBT people, and I have a thorough understanding of all the struggles, no matter how different our circumstances may be.”
But society can’t ignore biological and physical differences between people who are born male and those who are female by birth, he said.
Jenner honed in on the incident of a female volleyball player in North Carolina who claimed she was injured by a stronger transgender competitor.
“The average spike for a man, a good spike, is 82 miles-an-hour. The average spike for women, 64 miles-an-hour, a 30 percent great velocity playing a man. And that’s why we have to protect women’s sports,” Jenner said.
Jenner’s comments were music to the ears of Blakeman.
“This is about fairness and safety. Basically, I think it’s a bullying issue,” the Nassau County executive said
“I think biological males who want to engage in athletics against biological females that don’t want it, it’s bullying, and quite frankly we don’t go for bullying of any kind in Nassau County,” added Blakeman.
Under Blakeman’s order put into effect last month, female sports teams and leagues are banned from using any of Nassau County’s 100 ballfields and athletic facilities — unless they pledge to keep out transgender players. It’s believe to be the first trans sports ban of its kind in the nation.
Blakeman emphasized transgender athletes who are biological males can compete against males or participate in non competitive co-ed or recreational sports with females.
