N.Y.C. Parents Rebuked for Questioning Transgender Student-Athlete Rules

This spring, a group of elected parent leaders in New York asked the city to review education department rules allowing transgender students to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The parent council — representing the diverse local District 2 that weaves through the West Village, Hell’s Kitchen and the Upper East Side — said that the current policies present “challenges to youth athletes and coaches” and fail to consider the “well-being of girls.”

The schools chancellor, David C. Banks, called the proposal “despicable” and “no way in line with our values.”

Democratic officials also have responded to the parent council swiftly, and angrily.

In a letter made public on Monday, a coalition of 18 Democratic elected officials from New York called the proposal “hateful, discriminatory and actively harmful” to the city’s children. As officials in more conservative jurisdictions move to bar or restrict transgender athletes from competing, the resolution and ensuing backlash in New York illustrate how charged the issue is in one of the most heavily Democratic cities in the country.

The elected officials include Representative Jerry Nadler, Assemblyman Tony Simone, State Senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, as well as five City Council members.

The officials argued that while some parents say they were “simply asking for a conversation,” the resolution “was based in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric” that has helped fuel harassment and mental health issues for young people. They demanded that the council formally rescind the resolution.