A group of activists on a local Manhattan school panel inched toward their goal of barring transgender girls from public school sports during a heated meeting on Wednesday in Chelsea.
Members of Community Education Council 2, which covers a swath of Manhattan, voted to have the city Department of Education set up a review committee on the matter — which has seized national headlines as conservatives target trans youth — though the move was only advisory.
The 8-3 vote by the CEC — a panel the predecessors of which had major say in school policy, but which now has just an advice-giving role on schools — came after a controversial executive order on Long Island banned transgender girls from Nassau County-run facilities earlier this month.
The attempt by the CEC resolution’s four co-sponsors to wade into a nationwide culture war and restrict queer children’s rights in the borough of the Stonewall uprising was met with immediate criticism.
“Some kids are born taller, faster or more coordinated,” objected Jared Danker, a District 2 parent and Education Department employee, “but we don’t consider that unfair.”
The resolution would “marginalize, frighten and discriminate against a group of students who need our affirmation and support,” he added.
Tensions hit a fever pitch hours into the lengthy meeting, when the council voted to abruptly adjourn public comment after a transgender speaker gave remarks for longer than the time allotted.
A few blocks away, Schools Chancellor David Banks said the effort does not align with the public schools’ values.
“This resolution is based on unfounded and misleading information,” he said, “and it’s especially troubling because we know sports build self-confidence and a sense of belonging — which is especially critical for this group of students.”
The Education Department has to respond to CEC 2’s request, though it doesn’t have to implement it.
In 2019, the city released new guidelines that permit all students to participate in sports aligned with their gender identity, rather than on a case-by-case basis.
CEC 2’s resolution charged that those guidelines might end up harming girls’ sports.
“We can stick our head in the sand,” said CEC 2 President Leonard Silverman, who sponsored the resolution, “and we can refuse to acknowledge that there are differences in athletes that participate in [Public Schools Athletic League] sports. Or we can try to have an honest, open, transparent discussion about these issues.”
One parent shared the same concerns as those voiced in the resolution, questioning whether there was enough review about the city’s policy on transgender student athletes.
“It gives us an opportunity to look back and understand if the regulation is meeting its original intent, and that it’s not sacrificing fairness or safety for girls,” said Linda Quarles, the Brooklyn representative to the Citywide Council on High Schools.
But the majority of families, teachers and LGBTQ advocates spoke against the resolution, saying it is based on a harmful premise that transgender girls have an unfair advantage that justifies their exclusion from school sports.
“It is utterly shocking that such a regressive and harmful resolution is being proposed in the school district that covers the middle of Manhattan, including the neighborhoods of Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Greenwich Village, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement and neighborhoods that are home to the largest LGBTQ communities in the United States,” said Councilman Erik Bottcher (D-Manhattan).
As CEC 2 moved to crack down on transgender girl athletes, it also passed a resolution claiming to affirm its support for the LGBTQ community.
Under the status quo, state law ban discrimination on the basis of gender identity in sports and every other area of education. The recent order on Long Island has drawn a cease-and-desist order from state Attorney General Letitia James and a lawsuit from New York Civil Liberties Union.
