Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a warning to U.S. Masters Swimming. He has demanded that the organization prohibit transgender athletes from competing against women and accessing women’s locker rooms, or face potential legal consequences.
During a press conference in Orlando, Uthmeier expressed his frustration with the ongoing debate. “This is not right,” he declared. “It still seems insane to me that we’re having this conversation in this country, but we will always fight for what’s right in Florida.”
The confrontation centers on U.S. Masters Swimming’s recently updated transgender participation policy, which took effect July 1. The national nonprofit organization, founded in 1970 to provide structured swimming programs for adults, implemented the changes following an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton into potential violations of Texas law after reports that a biological male athlete competed in women’s events in San Antonio in April.
Under the new policy, USMS members can register for competition categories that align with their identity, but for actual competition purposes, athletes will only be included if they compete in categories matching their sex assigned at birth. Those who choose to swim in categories that don’t align with their birth sex become ineligible for “Recognition Programs,” though their results remain in the USMS database.
Uthmeier dismissed these measures as insufficient. “They now say that they will reserve, it appears, some competitions for just women but not all, and they have some loopholes where if you go through a transition process, you could become eligible again to compete in any one of these competitions,” he explained. “This is not acceptable. It does not fly with Florida law. We will use every tool at our disposal, from our civil rights laws to our anti-discrimination laws to our consumer protection laws, to ensure that we are protecting women and girls.”
Florida’s new Education Commissioner, Anastasios Kamoutsas, positioned the state as a leader on this issue, describing Florida as a “beacon of sanity” for women’s sports and women’s spaces. The state has enacted several relevant laws in recent years under Governor Ron DeSantis, including the 2021 “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which restricts athletic teams designated for females to students whose biological sex listed on their birth certificate at time of birth was female. This applies to teams sponsored by public secondary schools, high schools, colleges, or universities.
Additionally, Florida’s 2023 “Safety and Private Spaces Act” governs restrooms and changing facilities for exclusive use by specific genders.
Kim Jones, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), supported the attorney general’s position at the press conference, framing the issue as a fundamental question about fairness. She noted that U.S. Masters Swimming continues to allow biological men to compete with women and posed what she called the essential question: whether women and girls deserve access to fair sports.
“The state of Florida and AG Uthmeier believes that answer is yes and, unequivocally, so do we,” Jones stated.
The announcement sparked immediate pushback from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups. The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus characterized Uthmeier’s actions as fear-mongering. President Kristen Browde stated that the attorney general was “trying to scare Floridians with yet another imaginary transgender threat.”
“While Floridians struggle with unaffordable housing, skyrocketing insurance premiums, a crumbling education system, attacks on reproductive rights, and the outrage of Alligator Auschwitz, the Attorney General is fighting about swim meets,” Browde said. “This isn’t leadership. It’s political theater, an attempt to distract from the real problems facing Floridans.”
Browde, an attorney, also questioned the legal foundation of Uthmeier’s threats, asserting that “The State of Florida has no legal standing to sue simply because it disagrees with a private organization’s inclusive values.”
Equality Florida echoed these criticisms, suggesting that Uthmeier was following a familiar political playbook. The organization accused him of scapegoating transgender people to deflect attention from other controversies, including questions about no-bid contracts, contempt of court charges, and allegations involving public settlement money.
The debate occurs against a backdrop of widespread public opposition to transgender participation in women’s sports. Recent polling data reveals significant resistance among Americans, with a Gallup survey from last month showing 69% of Americans believe transgender women should only compete on teams matching their birth gender. An NBC News poll of over 19,000 adults found even stronger opposition, with 75% of respondents opposing transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.
The issue has gained renewed national attention under the Trump administration, which issued an executive order in February titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” The administration has also initiated legal action against California’s Department of Education over its policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ sports teams.
More than two dozen states have enacted laws restricting transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions, though some of these policies face ongoing legal challenges.
