Mayor Adams' sports director backs Trump's trans athlete ban, defying city policy

A top aide for Mayor Eric Adams who leads the city’s sports and recreation programs invoked her City Hall position to declare her support for President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, a stance that conflicts with city and state education rules.

“To those asking about my position, as Director of NYC Sports & Rec, I stand with the recent executive order reinforcing the importance of fairness in women’s sports,” Jasmine Ray, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sports, Wellness and Recreation, wrote on her Instagram story, a screenshot of which was obtained by Gothamist.

Ray’s comments defy New York City’s rules for youth sports, which say students must be allowed to participate in sports and athletic activities according to the student’s gender identity “asserted at school.” Her agency, which was created under Adams, runs the Mayor’s Cup, a series of sporting and recreational events that is said to attract more than 7,000 young people each year. The agency is also charged with promoting programs for youth.

Reached for comment, Ray said her comments reflected her personal beliefs and not those of the city. She said that invoking her title was “inappropriate,” and that she had deleted the post under the guidance of the mayor’s chief of staff.

“I take full responsibility for the error in judgment,” she wrote in an email. “I am committed to maintaining the separation between my personal beliefs and my professional responsibilities.”

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The rights of transgender people have become a fixation of conservatives across the country, who have put policies in place at the state, local and federal levels that restrict trans people’s access to bathrooms, medical care, legal identification and participation in sports. Trump’s recent order on sports participation is one of several he has issued on gender identity since taking office.

In her since-deleted post, Ray included a screenshot of Trump’s announcement of the order on X. “This is a great day for women and girls across our Country,” the president wrote, referring to the NCAA’s move to ban trans women from competing in women’s college sports.

While New York City policies generally protect trans people’s rights, including in sports participation, critics of the Adams administration said that the messaging out of City Hall doesn’t make that clear.

“This is exactly why so many New Yorkers are confused about what’s happening,” said Crystal Hudson, a city councilmember from Brooklyn who advocates for the LBGTQ community. “The mayor is saying one thing, administrators are saying another thing, and the actual law says something else altogether.”

Adams has voiced support for the city’s trans community in the past, but he has also faced backlash for appointing members of his administration who have histories of making anti-LGBTQ comments. As Adams fights federal corruption charges, he has refrained from publicly criticizing Trump’s policies and courted a closer relationship with the president, who has the power to offer him a pardon.

City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán of Queens, who co-chairs the LGBTQIA + caucus, accused the mayor of “selling out” the trans community to win a pardon.

She said Adams should remove Ray and affirm the city’s support for trans youth through legislation, funding and legal action against Trump. “There is absolutely no room for a transphobe in New York City government,” Cabán said. “The mayor has to account for every member of his administration and this is part of a pattern.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union called Ray’s comments extremely concerning.

“At a time when the Trump administration is trying to erase the rights of trans people—in violation of our federal laws and the Constitution—our city officials should do everything they can to make sure all youth, including transgender youth, feel safe and secure in their rights,” said Bobby Hodgson, Assistant Legal Director at the NYCLU. He said the executive order “flies in the face of our state and city anti-discrimination laws.”

Top city officials’ social media use has previously caused controversy for the Adams administration. Last month, the city’s Department of Investigation admonished top NYPD officials for social media posts that targeted journalists, an elected official and a judge.

Legal experts say that the right to free speech is more limited when public officials are discussing the purview of their jobs, especially in ways that contradict official government positions. It makes no difference if they express their views in a personal or official capacity, according to the NYCLU.

In her Instagram bio, Ray identifies herself as an entrepreneur and the founding director of the Mayor’s Office of Sports & Recreation. Adams appointed her to the newly created role in 2022. She was paid $161,000 last year from the Parks Department budget, according to pulblic city payroll data collected by the Empire Center.

Allen Roskoff, a longtime LGBTQ activist, has criticized other Adams appointees for their past anti-gay remarks. He called Ray a “transphobe” and “another typical appointee of Eric Adams.”

Since Trump was elected to a second term, trans advocates had been sounding the alarm over potential policy changes under the new administration. Thousands of people flocked to Union Square on Saturday to protest another Trump executive order that discourages hospitals from providing gender-affirming treatments for trans youth.

But the fervor over sports participation predated the current presidential administration. Last year, a Manhattan parent led an effort to introduce a resolution to have the city Department of Education change its policy, arguing trans girls and women have an unfair advantage over their cisgender teammates. It was promptly rejected.

Outside the city, Nassau County enacted legislation that bars trans athletes from competing in women’s and girl’s sports at county-owned athletic facilities. The law is currently facing two lawsuits, including one from the state Attorney General Letitia James.

Daniel Ravelo