SEAFORD, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 They zip around the rink, armed with helmets, pads and mouthguards. They push, bump and occasionally crash out as they jostle for position on the hardwood floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for the women of the Long Island Roller Rebels, their biggest battle is taking place outside the suburban strip-mall roller rink where they\u2019re girding for the upcoming roller derby season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nearly 20-year-old amateur league is suing<\/u><\/a> a county leader over an executive order meant to prevent women\u2019s and girl\u2019s leagues and teams with transgender players from using county-run parks and fields. The league\u2019s legal effort, backed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, has thrust it into the national discussion over the rights of transgender athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amanda Urena, the league\u2019s vice president, said there was never any question the group would take a stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe whole point of derby has been to be this thing where people feel welcome,\u201d said the 32-year-old Long Island native, who competes as \u201cCurly Fry\u201d and identifies as queer, at a recent practice at United Skates of America in Seaford. \u201cWe want trans women to know that we want you to come play with us, and we\u2019ll do our very best to keep fighting and making sure that this is a safe space for you to play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>The February edict from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman<\/u><\/a> affects more than 100 public facilities in the county of nearly 1.4 million just east of Queens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>Sports leagues and teams seeking permits to play or practice in county-run parks must disclose whether they have or allow transgender women or girls. Any organization that allows them to play will be denied a permit, though men\u2019s leagues and teams aren\u2019t affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bills restricting trans youths\u2019 ability to participate in sports have already passed<\/u><\/a> in some 24 states as part of an explosion of anti-trans legislation<\/u><\/a> on many subjects in recent years. The largest school district in Manhattan is among localities also weighing a ban, following a school board vote last week<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Roller Rebels sought a county permit this month in hopes of hosting practices and games in county-owned rinks in the upcoming season, as they have in prior years. But they expect to be denied, since the organization is open to anyone who identifies as a woman and has one transgender player already on the roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ban will also make it hard for the league, which has two teams and about 25 players, to recruit and will hurt its ability to host competitions with other leagues, Urena said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n State Attorney General Letitia James has demanded the county rescind the ban<\/u><\/a>, saying it violates state anti-discrimination laws, while Blakeman has asked a federal judge<\/u><\/a> to uphold it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That a roller derby league has become the face of opposition isn\u2019t surprising: the sport has long been a haven for queer and transgender women, said Margot Atwell, who played in a women\u2019s league in New York City and wrote \u201cDerby Life,\u201d a book about roller derby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sport, which dates at least to the 1930s and enjoyed its heyday in the 1970s, involves two teams racing around a track as their designated \u201cjammer\u201d attempts to score points by lapping the other skaters, who are allowed to use their hips, chests and shoulders to slow them down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest revival started in the early 2000s and has been sustained by LGBTQ+ people, with leagues frequently taking part in Pride parades and holding fundraising matches, Atwell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou come in here and you say, \u2018I\u2019m a trans woman. I\u2019m a nonbinary person. I\u2019m genderqueer.\u2019 OK? We accept you,\u201d said Caitlin Carroll, a Roller Rebel who competes as \u201cCatastrophic Danger.\u201d \u201cThe world is scary enough. You should have a safe place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blakeman has said he wants to ensure female athletes can compete safely and fairly. He held a news conference<\/u><\/a> last week with Caitlyn Jenner, who won Olympic gold in the men\u2019s decathlon in 1976 and later underwent a gender transition. Jenner, a Republican who\u2019s frequently at political odds with the greater transgender community, has endorsed the ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blakeman, a Republican who was elected in 2021, has said constituents asked his office to act. But many critics dismiss the ban as political posturing, noting he has acknowledged there have been no local complaints involving transgender players on women\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a solution in search of a problem,\u201d said Emily Santosus, a 48-year old transgender woman on Long Island who hopes to join a women\u2019s softball team. \u201cWe\u2019re not bullies. We\u2019re the ones that get bullied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ones who will suffer most aren\u2019t elite athletes, but children still trying to navigate their gender identities, added Grace McKenzie, a transgender woman who plays for the New York Rugby Club\u2019s women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCruel is the only word that I can use to describe it,\u201d the 30-year-old Brooklyn resident said. \u201cKids are using sports at that age to build relationships, make friendships, develop teamwork skills, leadership skills and, frankly, just help shield them from all the hate they face as transgender kids already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the larger discussion about trans women in sports, each side points to limited research to support their opinion. And bans often do not distinguish between girls and women who took puberty blockers as part of their transition \u2014 stunting the development of a male-typical physique \u2014 and those who didn\u2019t, something one New York advocate pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order in Nassau County puts some younger trans girls at greater risk by potentially pitting them against boys instead, said Juli Grey-Owens, leader of Gender Equality New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are not hitting puberty, so they\u2019re not growing, they\u2019re not getting that body strength, the endurance, the agility, the big feet, the large legs,\u201d Grey-Owens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ban could even lead to cisgender female athletes who are strong and muscular being falsely labeled transgender and disqualified, as has happened elsewhere, said Shane Diamond, a transgender man who plays recreational LGBTQ+ ice hockey in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt creates a system where any young woman who doesn\u2019t fit the stereotypical idea of femininity and womanhood is at risk of having her gender questioned or gender policed,\u201d Diamond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n