Trans Athletes Focus Of FL Lawsuit Against U.S. Masters Swimming

A lawsuit was filed Tuesday against U.S. Masters Swimming by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office over transgender athletes competing in women’s swimming events.

“For decades, women fought for equal opportunity in sports and Florida has protected that fairness, but U.S. Masters Swimming is letting men compete in women’s races and even take recognition meant for female athletes,” Uthmeier said in a video statement posted to X. “Men have real physical advantages in strength, speed and endurance. When they’re allowed in women’s races they take medals, rankings and opportunities away from female athletes who have trained for their entire lives for a fair shot.”

Because the Sarasota-based national swimming organization advertises women’s divisions races “while allowing men to compete in them, that is deceptive and it violates Florida law,” the attorney general said of trans athletes.

Patch has reached out to USMS for comment. This story will be updated when the organization responds.

The lawsuit cites Florida’s “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis by 2021. The law requires sporting competitions and teams to be separated by an athlete’s sex assigned at birth.

Bloomberg Law reported that Florida’s lawsuit is similar to a suit Texas filed in July against the group, which holds events for about 70,000 adult members nationwide.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court seemed inclined to uphold a pair of state laws barring the participation of transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams, The New York Times reported. The cases from West Virginia and Idaho pose implications for 25 other states with similar laws.

In June, USMS changed its policies on transgender athletes, joining the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which limited women’s competitions to athletes who are assigned female at birth, WFLA reported. The change came one day after an executive order from President Donald Trump banned transgender athletes from women’s sports.

Uthmeier sent a written demand to USMS in July requiring the organization to fully block transgender athletes from competing in women’s events.

By then, the organization’s new policies restricted transgender athletes, preventing them from winning women’s events, reports said. The change came after a transgender athlete won five women’s events for 45- to 49-year-old swimmers at the Spring National Championships in Texas.

In the lawsuit, Uthmeier argues that this change in policy isn’t enough, as it still allows transgender athletes to participate in women’s competitions, even if they can’t earn recognition.

“We gave them the chance to fix it and they refused,” the attorney general said in his video statement. “So … my office is taking U.S. Masters Swimming to court to defend fairness, protect female athletes and enforce Florida law.”