Top Florida Republicans are seeking to block a transgender girl who is a defending Irish Dance champion from competing in the girls’ division of the national competition this week in Orlando, saying the teen’s participation violates state law.
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“Your policy of forcing women to compete against biological men who identify as women in your women’s categories deprives women of the full and equal enjoyment of fair competition…” Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote in a letter to the competition’s governing bodies and posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “My office will not tolerate these sorts of policies, and will take all necessary steps to safeguard the rights and interests of Florida’s female competitors.”
Uthmeier’s four-page warning to the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America and The Irish Dancing Commission, followed a similar chiding to the groups by U.S. Reps. Randy Fine and Greg Steube, who alleged the competition’s inclusivity policy enabled “a trans-identifying male to repeatedly steal titles from female peers” in Florida and elsewhere.
All three cited Florida’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act which requires all public K-12 schools, colleges and universities in Florida to designate their athletic teams strictly on the basis of biological sex — for males, females or coed — and prohibits male students from participating on female-designated teams.
The objections came as the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld states’ rights to ban trans athletes from girls’ sports. It wasn’t immediately clear how that decision or Florida law would apply to a dance competition not affiliated with prep or collegiate sports.
The North American Irish Dance Championships begin Thursday and run through July 7 at the Rosen Centre on I-Drive. The national event serves as a qualifier for next year’s world championships.
Uthmeier set a deadline of Tuesday for the groups to respond to his letter.
The groups did not reply to emails from the Orlando Sentinel about the controversy, but in past years they have consistently defended their policy allowing trans dancers to choose how to compete. “Nothing in the world gives you an advantage but hard work,” one supporter of the groups told the Sentinel.
In a letter to Frank Santos, CEO of the Rosen Centre, Fine wrote, “The organizers declined to alter their policy, responding that the North American Irish Dance Championships are ‘not a sporting event’ but rather ‘an Irish dance event’ and that they consider Irish dance to be an art form. Based on that position, the organizers have indicated they intend to proceed under their existing eligibility policy.”
Fine urged Santos to “engage promptly with event organizers, take all appropriate steps to ensure compliance with Florida law, and to consider the potential legal and reputational implications of hosting the championships under the organizers’ current policy.”
Fine’s letter identified the teen by name and “as a biological male who identifies as a girl (who) won first place in the Girls U15 and Girls U16 division, respectively” in 2024 and 2025.
Uthmeier, however, did not name the teen, and the Orlando Sentinel is not identifying the dancer by name because she is a minor.
Maggie McKneely, a former Irish Dance competitor and now government relations director for Concerned Women for America, said her socially conservative organization had urged Uthmeier to put dance officials on notice that their competition’s rules clash with Florida law.
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She said the transgender girl had previously competed as a boy in boy’s divisions without winning before she won titles in girls’ divisions at the North American championships, including at previous events in Orlando, where the North Carolina high school student is registered to compete again in a girl’s division this week.
“We’ll see if this changes that,” McKneely said, suggesting she might drop out.
“I know people think of dance as an art form and that gender shouldn’t matter much, but Irish dance is extremely athletic and competitive,” McKneely said. “Men obviously have much greater physical capability. They’re able to jump higher, which matters in Irish dance. They’re able to move faster and do more complex rhythm patterns, and they have greater stamina. Rounds are several minutes long, and if you just have greater endurance, you’re able to do more and perform better, and the judges smile on that.
“So men do have a distinct physical advantage in competitive Irish dance,” she said.
Uthmeier also rebuked the organizing groups’ policies which allow a dancer to compete in divisions “that align with their gender identity.”
“Florida has made clear its commitment to preserving fairness, integrity, and equal opportunity for women and girls through its laws. Sex-based competitive categories exist for legitimate reasons grounded in biological realities and longstanding principles of fair competition,” he wrote. “Organizations conducting events in this state must understand that Florida rejects efforts to erase the meaning of biological sex in the name of ideology and that such efforts may violate Florida law when they discriminate against women.”
Appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after managing the governor’s failed presidential campaign, Uthmeier has confronted other sports organizations for practices and policies which he deems to be discriminatory, including the NFL and Major League Baseball.
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He challenged the NFL’s “Rooney rule,” which requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions, and issued a civil investigative subpoena to MLB alleging the league’s uniform regulations have infringed unfairly on protected religious expression.
The MLB dust-up was tied to league warnings to players who wrote Bible verses on their caps during LGBTQ+ “Pride Night.”
The disagreement over transgender competitors isn’t new, not even in Irish dance circles.
“Irish dance doesn’t come easy to anyone,” said Gabrielle Siegel, a former Irish dancer who started an online petition about three years ago in support of transgender dancers. “These kids work so hard practicing this art form. Nothing in the world gives you an advantage but hard work.”
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