LETTER: Assembly Candidate Manger on the “Nefarious Progressive Supermajority” & Girls Sports
In a letter to MyRye.com, Rye Republican City Committee Vice Chair and Candidate for NYS Assembly 91 Katie Manger says to watch out for the “nefarious progressive supermajority” and its impact on girls sports. Manger is running against the incumbent, Assemblyman Steve Otis. In 2023, Manger ran a campaign against Catherine Parker for Westchester County Legislator, District 7 (see: Q&A: County Legislator Candidate Katie Manger).
By Katie Manger, candidate for NYS Assembly 91
When Did Progressives Become Anti-Women?
“Progressive” has such an innocent, pleasant ring doesn’t it? Moving forward is almost always the best course –unless you’re standing on a fiscal cliff– and gaining momentum is certainly better than being stagnant. It’s true that the progressives of their respective days brought about women’s suffrage, established child labor laws, workplace safety and (their favorite) weekends. The fact that progressives themselves are happy to refer to themselves as such, should tell us something. They almost never use the “L” word to describe their ideology, which they believe to be on the side of the angels. But thinking people know the devil is always in the details, especially in New York.
I recently entered the race to represent my friends and neighbors in the 91st Assembly District. My opponent, Steve Otis, appears to be an agreeable fellow, who has been in this office for 12 long years after holding other public offices for many years prior. If familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, it can certainly breed complacency. Recent news out of Albany makes it clear that the time has come for our towns to be represented by a strong woman.
The very agreeable Steve is part of a nefarious progressive supermajority who have grown more and more radical as the scope of their movement has expanded with their overall numbers. Indeed, progressives occupy every statewide office and enjoy veto-proof supermajority status in both houses of the legislature and they have installed operatives in nearly every agency in Albany. Steve and his comrades are now pursuing radical change unchallenged, often without regard for who they hurt in the process, and very often at odds with their own positions. Enter biological males playing girls’ sports.
The recent proposal by the New York State Board of Regents –appointed by the legislature– to allow boys to compete in girls’ sports when a boys team is not offered is nothing less than a direct threat to the health, safety and future prospects of girls. This policy will have negative impacts on girls and young women throughout the Sound Shore and beyond.
Our high schools from Port Chester through New Rochelle and all in between have renown girls’ athletics programs which provide a crucial platform for female empowerment, offering girls not only opportunities for physical development and competitive achievement but also scholarships and career pathways that might otherwise be out of reach –especially for poor and minority girls and young women. Can someone please tell me, where have all the feminists gone?
Allowing biological males –in old-fashioned speak, boys and men– to compete in girls’ sports not only undermines their hard work and impacts their futures, but it poses a direct threat to their physical and mental health and well-being. This proposal must not go forward.
As the assemblywoman from the 91st District, I will call for an overhaul of the Board of Regents and if necessary the State Education Department if any version of this irresponsible, dangerous, anti-women policy finds its way to our schools’ fields, gyms, courts or pools.
Katie Manger, Rye
Candidate for NYS Assembly 91
