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Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner expressed support for a New York county official’s order that bans women’s sports teams that include biological male athletes and men’s sports teams that include biological female athletes from using county-owned facilities.
Jenner, who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, focused on transgender women competing in women’s sports during an event Monday alongside Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
“Trans women are competing against women, taking valuable opportunities for the long-protected class under Title IX, and causing physical harm,” Jenner said.
Jenner also said it is important to recognize “the biological realities that exist, that provide for advantages and even lead to physical harm when trans women or biological males compete in sports against women.”
Blakeman, a Republican, has been under fire since he signed the “Fairness for Women and Girls in Sports” executive order last month that requires sports teams using Nassau County Parks property to be designated in one of three categories: Male, Female and coed.
The order also bans permits from being issued for sporting events that allow teams or sports “designated for females, women, or girls to include biological males.” Permits may not be issued for events that “allow athletic teams or sports for males, men, or boys to include biological females,” the order also states.
A person’s gender, under the order, is defined as their biological sex at birth.
New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James called the order “transphobic” and said it violates state law, per The Associated Press.
David Kilmnick, president of the New York LGBT Network, an advocacy non-profit, criticized Jenner’s comments.
“Caitlyn Jenner’s support for anti-LGBT initiatives stands as a baffling contradiction to her own identity and the struggles she has faced as a transgender woman. Embracing policies or ideologies that undermine the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ individuals is not only hypocritical but also harmful,” Kilmnick said.
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Photo “Caitlyn Jenner” by Caitlyn Jenner
