Manhattan’s largest neighborhood school board district is trying to pass a resolution that could lead to a ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports.
Community Education Council District 2 – which serves Manhattan from the Lower to the Upper East Side – will vote on a resolution Wednesday that would demand the city DOE allow a public review of its policy allowing transgender girls to play female sports.
Four members of the CEC D2 want community input on guidelines put in place in 2019 by NYC’s Public School Athletic League that allow trans participation, according to the proposal.
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While the measure doesn’t explicitly call for a trans ban in girls sports, one of its sponsors, council member Maud Maron, has advocated for such restrictions when she ran for Congress as a Democrat last year.
She said the proposal for a public review is to get a conversation going about who is allowed to play girls sports in school.
“The gender guidelines apply to all students, so all students should have had a say in developing them,” she told The Post. “True inclusivity means listening to everyone and listening to ideas you may not agree with.
“The resolution is advisory and merely asks for a review and redrafting of the gender guidelines after input from more stakeholders.”
The measure would not be little more than symbolic, as it would only serve as a request to DOE brass to hold a review of the policy — a policy the department backed in a statement Wednesday.
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The goal of the resolution is to have NYC public schools to review the DOE’s guidelines and to add parental involvement into decisions. They also want “transparency,” arguing that they don’t know how the initial decision was made.
Even though it is unlikely that, even if passed at a meeting Wednesday, the measure will get DOE attention, Silverman still thinks the discussion needs to be had.
“It’s a tough issue,” he said. “But we as a society need to come up with a solution.”
Like many have argued before, Silverman is aware that transgender athletes may have a biological advantage and poise risk to a “level playing field.”
As for a ban on transgender athletes, Silverman admits that discussion would come much later.
The resolution has already sparked backlash from NYC liberal groups, including Bigot Blockade, which argued the proposal is “false and based on the incorrect idea that allowing trans athletes to participate in sports lessens the experience of other student athletes,” it wrote in an online mail campaign, that has nearly 4,000 letters sent.
CEC councilmember Gavin Healy also condemned the resolution, telling the Daily News: “My first reaction is this is just a complete red herring; it’s a made-up issue. I’m not aware of any case of a student missing out on a trophy or medal or scholarship opportunity because of this policy.”
Maron has long been controversial for stances on trans issues. Healy ripped her in a Medium piece.
Maron was also not invited to a Brooklyn Political Clubs event in 2022 while she was running for Congress for allegedly spreading “hate and misinformation around gender identity and the transgender community.”
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The resolution isn’t the only push in New York to address transgender athletes on women’s sports team.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an executive order blocking transgender athletes from sports at county-run facilities.
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/03/20/us-news/manhattans-largest-school-board-district-trying-to-pass-resolution-that-could-lead-to-trans-athlete-ban/amp/
