Who Should Play Girls’ Sports? Suffolk Candidates Draw a Clear Line — With One Big Exception

With Election Day approaching, candidates across Suffolk County are making their cases to voters and discussing the issues they believe matter most to local communities. During a recent meet-and-greet with political candidates from both sides of the aisle, we asked each candidate about an issue that has become a major topic nationally but also has a direct impact on local schools and student-athletes: Should schools allow biological males to compete on girls’ or women’s sports teams?

The responses were remarkably consistent — with one major exception.

Candidates from both parties generally expressed concerns about the physical differences between males and females and the potential impact on girls competing for roster spots, playing time, scholarships and athletic opportunities. Some favored stronger federal or state protections, while others emphasized local control.

The lone candidate to take a dramatically different position was Kimberly Wilder, a third-party candidate for the 2nd Assembly District.

Wilder not only argued that the issue should not be addressed nationally or statewide, but questioned the very idea of maintaining separate men’s and women’s sports. Her proposals included eliminating men’s basketball altogether and creating coed sports with different rules designed to give women specific roles.

That position stood in stark contrast to the other candidates interviewed, who repeatedly focused on protecting opportunities for female athletes.

Wilder began by rejecting the premise of the question.

“That’s not what’s happening. It’s not men playing in women’s sports,” Wilder said, before arguing that the issue was a cultural war involving children and gender identity.

Wilder said the matter should be left almost entirely to individual school districts.

“My answer to that is take it off the national stage. It never, ever belonged on the national stage,” she said. “I don’t even know if it belongs on the state law stage."

But Wilder’s comments went considerably further when she discussed how sports themselves should be structured.

Rather than addressing concerns about protecting girls who could lose roster spots, playing time or scholarships, Wilder suggested eliminating the traditional separation between men’s and women’s basketball.

“If a transgender person... you think they shouldn’t be playing women’s basketball, don’t have women’s basketball,” Wilder said. “It doesn’t work out fair to women anyway. Have unisex basketball.”

That proposal was immediately challenged on the basis that combining the sports could make it even more difficult for female athletes to compete at the highest levels.

Wilder acknowledged the potential problem but suggested changing the rules instead.

“We should abolish men’s basketball,” she said.

When asked whether such a system could result in women being unable to make teams because of physical differences, Wilder proposed assigning different roles to male and female players and questioned why sports has to be so physical and admitted to not being a fan of sports.

She went even further saying ""It's discriminatory to have men's basketball, and you can only be a man."

For many parents and sports fans, the most striking part of Wilder’s response was not simply her opposition to state or federal regulations, but the absence of the same emphasis on protecting girls’ athletic opportunities expressed by the other candidates.

While Mattera, DeStefano, Murray and Puleo spoke about protecting girls’ roster spots, scholarships, locker-room privacy and competitive opportunities, Wilder’s solution was essentially to change the sports themselves.

Wilder also argued that she would rather change the rules of basketball to accommodate everyone than restrict transgender children from participating.

“I’d rather change the rules of basketball to make it fair for everyone or inclusion for everyone than to change the rules of basketball to harm 14-year-olds with identity crises,” Wilder said. Wilder continued to argue the rules should be changed to woman can be inserted onto men's teams saying, “Make basketball fair by making it so that the men do this part, and there’s a place made for women.” Her example was women only shoot three pointers, and teams make a place for that role to be a female.

That left a striking contrast between Wilder and the other candidates interviewed. While the others focused primarily on how to preserve separate opportunities for female athletes, Wilder proposed eliminating some of those traditional distinctions altogether.

The debate over transgender participation in sports is clearly not going away, and the candidates’ answers demonstrated just how different the political perspectives remain.

State Sen. Mario Mattera was unequivocal, saying he would refuse to allow his daughters’ teams to participate under such circumstances.

“Absolutely should not happen,” Mattera said. “Be a voice. Don’t go and continue to compete. No way. You boycott it.”

Assemblyman Joe DeStefano expressed similar concerns, particularly about locker rooms and girls potentially losing roster spots or scholarships.

“Getting in the locker room, changing with the girls, playing in girls’ sports. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of in my life,” DeStefano said.

DeStefano also emphasized local control, saying, “I believe local control is power. It is power.”

State Sen. Dean Murray focused heavily on Title IX and the opportunities it created for female athletes.

“Biological males should play with men. Biological females play with females,” Murray said.

Murray argued that physical differences matter in athletics.

“Anatomically, biologically, men and women are not equal. It’s that simple. Men are bigger, stronger, faster,” he said.

Murray also raised concerns about scholarships, noting that many high school athletes rely on sports as a pathway to college.

“A lot of these kids are playing high school sports because that is their ticket to college,” Murray said. “For every guy that’s playing on a girls team, that’s a scholarship they’re probably taking. And that could have gone to a female.”

Suffolk County Clerk Vincent Puleo was equally direct.

“Biological men should play in biological men sports. Women should play in women’s sports. End of story,” Puleo said.

Democratic congressional candidate Chris Galante took a somewhat softer approach, arguing that the issue should primarily be handled locally and on a case-by-case basis.

“My opinion is it should be a local issue, and it should be dealt with as a local issue,” Galante said.

Galante also acknowledged the physical differences between men and women, saying those differences should be considered when determining athletic policies.

The answers offered a revealing look at how candidates from different political backgrounds view an issue that has become increasingly controversial in school athletics.

Despite their political differences, nearly every candidate interviewed centered their response on protecting female athletes and preserving opportunities for girls.

Wilder stood apart, not only by opposing broader regulation, but by suggesting that the traditional separation of men’s and women’s sports should itself be dismantled.

For voters, particularly parents of student-athletes, those very different answers provide another issue to consider as Election Day approaches.