Politics
James Uthmeier files lawsuit against swimming organization, seeks to block transgender competitors
The lawsuit was filed in Sarasota County.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he has filed a lawsuit against major American competitive swimming organizations for discriminating against women by allowing transgender competitors.
The legal action says U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) and Florida Association and Local Masters Swim Committee Inc., both regional affiliates of USMS, are “deceiving consumers by allowing men to compete in women’s swimming events that are advertised as female-only.”
Uthmeier published a statement on the lawsuit that was filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida in Sarasota County.
“Men have real physical advantages in strength, speed and endurance,” Uthmeier said in the video statement posted on X. “When they’re allowed into women’s races, they take medals, rankings and opportunities away from female athletes who have trained for their entire lives for a fair shot.”
The USMS is based in Sarasota and is an athletic organization that promotes competitive swimming throughout America.
“USMS itself concedes that its policy still allows men who merely ‘identify’ or ‘express’ themselves as women to compete in women’s swimming competitions. And importantly, the new policy does not actually prevent men who identify as women from earning recognition in women’s swimming competitions,” the 39-page lawsuit said.
Uthmeier said that’s against Florida law.
“U.S. Master’s Swimming still advertises women’s divisions while allowing men to compete in them. That is deceptive and it violates Florida law,” Uthmeier said in his recorded message. “We gave them the chance to fix it and they refused.”
Uthmeier sent a written demand in July to the USMS that the organization block transgender athletes from competing in women’s events.
The USMS, a nonprofit organization geared toward competitive swimmers 18 years and older, had instituted some policies restricting transgender athletes from winning women’s events. That move came after the Spring National Championships in Texas, where five women’s events were won by a transgender athlete in the age class of 45- to 49-year-old swimmers.
