Manhattan’s Largest School District Votes to Review Policy Allowing Males in Girls’ Sports

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman surprised New Yorkers last Thursday by signing an executive order that effectively bars boys from participating in girls’ sports. The decision was celebrated by Americans who’ve been fighting to keep men out of women’s sports, including some unlikely allies like trans-identifying Caitlyn Jenner. On the heels of Blakeman’s decision is another potential victory for women’s advocates — also coming from the “ultra-woke” state of New York.

A district in Manhattan’s Community Education Council (CEC) “overwhelmingly passed a resolution standing up for girls in school sports,” the New York Post reported on Thursday. Although the poll did not determine whether men could compete in women’s sports, the 8-3 vote “approved a measure … to demand that the city Department of Education allow a public review of its current, obscene policy allowing trans players (i.e., biological males) on girls’ teams,” the Post continued.

According to National Review, “The measure demands that New York City Public Schools convene a committee comprised of female athletes, parents, coaches, relevant medical professionals and evolutionary biology experts to discuss a revised policy.” And it’s this committee that may be able to raise suggested “amendments, changes, and additions to the current gender guidelines.”

The decision was not free from backlash, as CEC member Gavin Healy claimed it put “a target on students’ backs.” He added that he was “ashamed” to be at the vote. NYC Council member Erik Bottcher (D) also chastised the notion, remarking, “We are outraged that you’re considering a resolution targeting transgender girls and sports. It is utterly shocking that such a regressive and harmful resolution is being proposed in the school district in the middle of Manhattan.”

But as the Post’s editorial board asserted, “[T]his is about fairness, not discrimination.” They added, “Rules forcing girls to compete against biological males are simply about power, not justice; about forcing all to bend the knee to a fashionable ideology. That’s why their proponents are ‘ashamed’ of ‘having to debate’ the issue, and why they’re so hostile even to the idea of a simple public review.”

CEC District 2, the board that approved the resolution, is Manhattan’s largest neighborhood school board district as it ranges from the Lower East Side to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. There are approximately 56,893 students in District 2, and if this review were to cause changes in the policy, it would be no small matter. Many have expressed support for it, with some more optimistic than others.

CEC D2 president Leonard Silverman, for example, supports the review but said, “Unfortunately my experience has been that organizations including the community education councils, are sometimes created to give the appearance that parents have control over process when the reality is, that we really don’t have any control.”

Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, commented to The Washington Stand, “When trans sports policies are reviewed, everyone should consider that every time a biological male plays women’s sports, whether out of discomfort, fear of being hurt, or an inability to succeed because of physical differences, biological females sit on the sidelines.”

She continued, “The message that this sends is that a woman’s contributions are not as valuable or important as a man’s. Unfortunately, that lesson carries over into the rest of a woman’s life.” In the final analysis, Szoch concluded, “Girls deserve the chance to play sports — and do life — on an equal playing field, and this cannot happen if we ignore biological realities.”

Meg Kilgannon, senior fellow for Education Studies at FRC, shared with TWS, “While this particular effort is spearheaded by people on the Left, it’s great to see them standing up for reality. We need more people of faith to engage and run for office.”