New York girls need the protections Albany blocked

Girls' bathrooms, locker rooms and sports belong to girls, and Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, said so plainly when he answered a question about gender-neutral bathrooms at the state Capitol. "I don't believe biological males should use women's bathrooms," he said, Spectrum News Albany reported. In the same answer he added, "I believe that biological males should not be competing in women's sports¹."

The New York Post reported that the state Education Department struck down Locust Valley and Massapequa school-board rules restricting transgender students’ use of restrooms and locker rooms. Will Albany keep overruling the parents who agree with him²?

“Biological males should not play in female sports. They have a competitive advantage. It’s unfair, and it’s also unsafe.”

Young athletes asked for fair, safe play

The Long Island Press quoted Blakeman: “Biological males should not play in female sports. They have a competitive advantage. It’s unfair, and it’s also unsafe.”³ Most Americans agree: a Pew Research Center analysis found almost three-quarters oppose males who identify as women competing against female athletes².

Albany overturned local school privacy rules

Locust Valley and Massapequa did what elected school boards exist to do: they set rules keeping their restrooms and locker rooms sex-based. The state Education Department erased those rules², and the parents who elected those boards lost the protection they had voted for.

Blakeman's "Protect Our Daughters" plan would create statewide standards reserving girls' bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations for biological females. His representatives said it covers public school students from kindergarten through 12th grade. It would also bar Albany legislators from stripping funds or issuing other sanctions against districts that keep transgender students out of female sports. Blakeman said Gov. Kathy Hochul "would rather satisfy a political agenda than protect our daughters’ safety, privacy, and dignity²."

Should a girl on an overnight school trip share a room with a boy? Blakeman's plan answers no².

1. 2024Blakeman issued the Nassau County executive order
2. January 2025A state judge upheld Nassau’s law
3. June 2026The Supreme Court ruled states can bar transgender female competitors from girls' sports
4. Sept. 26A Siena College poll showed Blakeman trailing Hochul by 9 points
5. Nov. 3New York votes for governor.

9 points

Nassau’s law survived after the order fell

Blakeman has fought this battle before and won it in court. As Nassau County executive, he issued an order barring transgender athletes from using county ballfields and facilities for girls' sports, and Attorney General Letitia James challenged it immediately. In 2024 a state judge ruled that he lacked authority to impose the ban by executive order without the legislature's approval. So Nassau passed it as a law: the Republican-led county legislature and Blakeman approved a law reinstating the ban⁴.

In January 2025, Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cozzens upheld the ban. He ruled the law legal and meant to "protect women and girls in sports." Cozzens wrote that a biological male, "regardless of transitioning, would be possessed of greater athleticism and speed, strength, muscle mass, stronger hearts, and greater bone density³." The New York Civil Liberties Union is appealing for a women's roller derby league, with James' support⁴.

Then, in June 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can bar transgender female competitors from girls' sports. Blakeman answered the ruling with a charge at Hochul: "But while the Court stood up for our daughters, Kathy Hochul continues putting them in danger by forcing biological males onto their teams⁴."

Democrats attacked Blakeman instead of answering

Hochul's representatives did not respond when the New York Post asked about Blakeman's school plan. The state Democratic Party answered instead, through spokesperson Addison Dick: "Bruce Blakeman is playing from an old Trump playbook and palling around with extremists to get attention for his failing campaign²."

As for "failing," a Siena College poll released Sept. 26 showed Blakeman trailing Hochul by 9 points, a smaller lead than Hochul held over Republican Lee Zeldin at the same point in 2022². A party that will not defend the policy is left attacking the man who would end it.

Voters can put Albany on girls’ side

Blakeman has named the day his plan takes effect: "That ends on Day 1 when I am Governor, and I enact the ‘Protect Our Daughters’ Initiative to keep biological men out of girls’ sports and bathrooms²." New York votes Nov. 3, and Hochul owes parents three answers before then.

Will she stop Albany from punishing districts that keep girls' teams for girls, yes or no? If she won't answer, New York parents can answer for their daughters on Nov. 3.

Sources

1. @SpecNews1Albany on X, 2026-10-14: Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman answered a question about gender neutral bathrooms at the state Capitol by saying, "I don't believe biological males should use women's bathrooms" and "I believe that biological males should not be competin, 2026-10-14
2. Exclusive | Blakeman vows to bar transgender students from girls' school bathrooms and lockers in NY
3. Nassau judge upholds Blakeman’s ban on trans women in sports
4. NY GOP Bruce Blakeman lauds SCOTUS ruling