Florida AG Threatens Lawsuit Against US Masters Swimming Over Male Participation in Female Events

Permitting such participation amounts to sex-based discrimination and is unacceptable under Florida law, he said.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks during a meeting between Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state cabinet at the Florida capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., on March 5, 2025. Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a July 15 letter to the CEO of U.S. Masters Swimming, called for an immediate end to male athletes participating in female swimming competitions conducted by that organization.

“Your policy must be corrected immediately to guarantee—unequivocally—that you will abide by Florida law and keep male athletes out of female competitions and locker rooms,” he wrote.

“Please certify to me in writing by July 29, 2025, that USMS ensures, via necessary policy and procedural changes, that no men will any longer be permitted to compete against women in women’s category events. Should USMS refuse, my office will take all necessary action to protect Florida women and vindicate their rights under Florida law.”

USMS is a nonprofit swimming organization that, together with its 52 Local Masters Swimming Committees, offers support to over 1,200 swimming clubs. Headquartered in Florida, the organization has nearly 70,000 members nationwide.

On July 1, a new interim eligibility policy went into effect at USMS under which men identifying as women were deemed “ineligible for competitive recognition programs in the women’s category” at USMS-sanctioned events, according to the organization’s FAQ on the issue.

However, USMS clarified that people can continue to swim in competition categories aligning with their “gender identity.”

As such, men can compete in female swimming events, but will not qualify for official recognition programs such as USMS records, Top 10, and All-American and All-Star status in women’s categories.

In the July 15 letter, Uthmeier said that allowing males to compete in women’s competitions is “sex-based discrimination,” and that such a move “deprives women of the equal enjoyment, privileges, and advantages that fair competition affords.”

USMS’s interim eligibility policy is “unacceptable under Florida law,” Uthmeier wrote.

In Florida, sex is defined as indicated by a person’s sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and genitalia present at birth, the letter said, adding that state courts have refused to extend the definition of sex to include “gender identity and/or expression.”

And if the biological men, allowed to take part in female competitions as per USMS rule, use women’s locker rooms at USMS events, it opens the organization to “liability for sexual harassment,” Uthmeier warned.

Allowing male participation in female sports also creates conditions that are “immoral and detrimental to public interest,” amounting to public nuisance under Florida law, Uthmeier said.

The AG affirmed he will enforce President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5 presidential action titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, USMS said that it was “aware of the public comments made by the Florida Attorney General” and that the organization will “respond to any direct inquiry in good faith and in accordance with applicable law.”

“Eligibility for competitive recognition programs is based upon a swimmer’s sex assigned at birth, under USMS’s interim eligibility policy,” it said, adding that the latest standards “reflect legal review, member feedback, and alignment with the Policy on Eligibility from World Aquatics, which USMS is a member federation of.”

Texas AG Investigation

In a May 19 statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said the AG was investigating the USMS for “potential violations of state law” after reports that the organization allowed a male to take part in women’s events in the 2025 Spring Nationals swim meet in San Antonio.

At the time, Paxton said the USMS policy allowing men to compete in women’s sports was “reprehensible and could violate Texas’s consumer protection laws.”

In its FAQ on the interim eligibility policy, USMS defended its latest interim rule.

According to the organization, the interim regulations were formed after taking into account “sustained feedback from members concerned about fairness in competition” following the 2025 Spring Nationals and Paxton’s investigation.

USMS said its board and Rules Committee were now working to create a permanent eligibility policy.

Kim Jones, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, welcomed the Florida Attorney General’s letter to USMS, according to a July 15 statement from Uthmeier’s office.

“There is a single question at stake here—it is ‘do women and girls deserve access to fair sports?’ and the answer is a yes or no,” Jones said.

“The State of Florida and Attorney General Uthmeier believe that answer is yes, and, unequivocally, so do we. It is illegal for men to be competing with women, and it has been for over 50 years.”