Florida congressmen target transgender girl competing in Irish dance championship

Instead of focusing on how to make life more affordable for their constituents, two Florida Republican members of Congress are pressuring Irish dance officials to bar a transgender girl from competing in girls’ categories at one of the sport’s largest North American competitions, carrying the right’s anti-trans sports campaign into the world of competitive dance.

U.S. Reps. Randy Fine and Greg Steube sent a June 24 letter to An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha, the Dublin-based governing body for Irish dance, and the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America ahead of the North American Irish Dance Championships in Orlando, according to a post on Fine’s Facebook page.

The competition is scheduled for July 2-7 at the Rosen Centre Hotel, according to the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America and the championship’s official website.

“Biological males do not belong in girls’ dance,” Fine wrote in a post sharing the letter. “Florida law is clear: girls’ categories are for biological females.”

In the letter, Fine and Steube demanded that the Irish dance organizations “stop allowing boys to compete in and win girls’ categories in Orlando.” They cited Florida’s 2021 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which bars transgender girls and women from participating on girls’ and women’s school athletic teams consistent with their gender identity. The law applies to public secondary schools and public postsecondary institutions.

The lawmakers contend that an Irish dance competition held in a hotel or convention space must also reserve girls’ and women’s divisions for competitors assigned female at birth. The letter specifically objects to a transgender girl who, the lawmakers wrote, has competed in girls’ divisions at regional Irish dance competitions and qualified for national and world competitions.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has also threatened legal action against the dance organizations. In a June 26 letter posted publicly on Monday, Uthmeier told CLRG and IDTANA that their policy allowing competitors to enter divisions based on gender identity may violate Florida law.

Related: Right-Wing Media Attacks Trans Girl For Winning Irish Dance Competition

Uthmeier also posted the letter on X, writing, “The upcoming North American Irish Dance Championships in Orlando currently allow men who identify as women to compete in and earn recognition as women.”

“Florida law protects fair competition for actual women and girls,” he wrote. “Sex-based categories are rooted in biological reality, not ideology. My office will take appropriate legal action against any failure to comply.”

In the letter, Uthmeier argued that Florida law protects women from sex discrimination in places of public accommodation and claimed the championships fall under that definition because they are being held at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando. He also cited the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, arguing that advertising women’s competitions while allowing transgender competitors to participate could amount to a deceptive practice.

“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 against CLRG and IDTANA’s unjust policy,” Uthmeier wrote.

Uthmeier requested that both organizations confirm by Tuesday that they will not allow transgender women and girls to compete in women’s categories at the upcoming championships or future competitions in Florida.

The Advocate has reached out to the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America for comment.

The dispute follows a pressure campaign from Concerned Women for America, a conservative Christian organization that has urged Irish dance officials to change their transgender participation policies. The group also circulated what it described as an IDTANA inclusivity statement, dated July 2022, that says the organization is “committed to preserving and promoting Irish Dance in an environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment.” The statement says the organization supports a culture where dancers, families, teachers, and volunteers feel safe and respected “regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, income, race or sexual orientation, opportunities to learn and grow as dancers and people.” It also says IDTANA is “supportive of including all those who want to learn and or compete.”

The championship’s official website continued to list the Orlando competition as proceeding this week.