Lee Zeldin sees warning signs for women’s sports in ERA

Conservative forces in New York are hoping that the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposition on the November general election ballot, will help sway voters away from the Democratic Party as they intend to hold on to Republican gains in Long Island and the suburbs. Protections for gender expression included in the constitutional amendment took center stage Monday, as GOP lawmakers, female athletes and even former swimmer Riley Gaines came to Albany to rail against the measure. They claimed the ERA put female athletes in perilous positions and stripped parents of the right to make medical decisions for their children.

The Equal Rights Amendment, passed by state lawmakers in 2022 and 2023, would enshrine protections against discrimination on the basis of several protected statuses, including gender expression, and does not directly refer to athletic participation or medical procedures. Detractors have argued that the change to New York’s constitution includes broad enough language that would open the door to both. Trans women in sports has become a culture war talking point for some conservatives in recent years. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman made waves this year by banning trans female athletes from competing in sports on public land in the county.

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who used to be a state senator and gubernatorial candidate and now chairs the Leadership America Needs PAC, led off proceedings, urging New York voters to express caution around the ERA and make sure they understand what it could mean for them and their children.

“Your own decision on what you believe is best for your family, for yourself, for your community, for the state, is what should guide your vote,” Zeldin said. “I personally don’t believe that we should have transgender, biological boys competing against girls in our group sports. I don’t believe that they should be inside our bathrooms or inside of locker rooms.”

Gaines, who catapulted to the national spotlight after calling foul when trans swimmer Lia Thomas tied fifth with her at the 2022 NCAA national championship meet and later became the first trans athlete to be an NCAA Division I champion, described her discomfort around trans athletes and opposition to the ERA.

“There is a coordinated effort to destroy girls’ sports and attack the rights of women, the rights of parents and the safeguarding of children,” Gaines said. Later in the press conference, she called an openly gay reporter homophobic after he asked if her issue with trans women being in locker rooms extended to lesbians.

Sasha Neha Ahuja, campaign director for New Yorkers for Equal Rights, took issue with the way opponents of the ERA characterized its possible effects.

“New Yorkers, not politicians, should be in charge of their fundamental rights and freedoms. This is exactly why we need the NY ERA – to keep politicians like Lee Zeldin from turning our basic rights and freedoms into political footballs,” Ahuja said. “As has been the case across the country, we’re not surprised that the opposition and their anti-abortion friends would make false claims about parents’ abilities to make health care decisions about their children. This is unequivocally false.”

Zeldin and Assembly Minority Leader Pro Tempore Andy Goodell later acknowledged the political element of the ERA debate, with the latter calling abortion rights a “Trojan horse” for other Democratic goals.

“Polls are interesting,” he said. “What’s the poll number if you ask parents, ‘Do you support having your child making a major health care decision when they’re in sixth grade, or fifth grade or fourth grade?’”

Zeldin said Democrats were clearly shifting strategy. “It was drafted not to be an amendment specifically about abortion limits,” he said. “The reason why they have changed their tactics is because all this other stuff that is in the actual text of the amendment, their pollsters are telling them they’re on the wrong side of.”

The Equal Rights Amendment will be put to New York’s voters on Nov. 5.