Transgender competitor drops out of girls’ Irish step dance event 

A 17-year-old male who identifies as transgender dropped out of a girls’ Irish step dancing championship after Florida’s attorney general threatened legal action against the event’s organizers.

The withdrawal kept the competitor out of the girls’ under-17 division at the North American Irish Dance Championships. The event took place July 2-7 in Orlando.

However, the withdrawal left a key legal question unanswered: Can Florida protect women’s sports by making a private dance competition limit its girls’ events to females?

Florida’s main law protecting women’s sports does not clearly apply, but Uthmeier argued against it on other grounds. The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” applies to teams and sports that public schools, public colleges and public universities sponsor.

The Irish dance championship did not operate through a Florida school. Two private organizations, the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America and Irish Dancing Commission, ran the event.

Because of this, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier relied on two other state laws when he warned the groups against allowing the male dancer to compete against girls.

Uthmeier first cited the Florida Civil Rights Act. This law gives people the right to the “full and equal enjoyment” of services at public accommodations without discrimination based on sex.

The competition took place at the Rosen Centre Hotel, a private hotel and convention center that serves the public.

Uthmeier argued the organizers would deny girls equal access to fair competition if they required them to compete against a male in a female division.

“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,” Uthmeier wrote in a letter to the dance groups.

Florida law lists hotels and places of entertainment among the businesses that can count as public accommodations.

Uthmeier also cited the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. This law bans unfair or deceptive acts in business.

The organizers advertised separate male and female divisions but allowed dancers to choose a division based on gender identity.

Uthmeier argued the policy could mislead families who expected the girls’ divisions to remain limited to female dancers.

“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 wrote.

The attorney general gave the groups until June 30 to respond and warned his office could take legal action.

Event organizers did not publicly announce a policy change. Concerned Women for America said the organizations instead told teachers and competitors that the event would continue and that the rules complied with Florida law.

The male competitor later withdrew. Neither the dancer nor the organizers publicly explained why.

Maggie McKneely, government relations director for Concerned Women for America, said the immediate result still counted as a victory.

“It’s a win because the girls didn’t have to compete against a boy in their category, and whether he withdrew because of the threat of legal action against the organizations or because of the media attention, it’s still good he didn’t compete,” McKneely told the Orlando Sentinel.

The competitor had already won three straight girls’ titles at the Southern Regional Oireachtas, a major Irish dance competition sending its top finishers to national and world events.

Heartlander News reported in January 2025 that the dancer won the girls’ under-15 title in December 2024 after competing against nearly 100 female dancers. The competitor had also won the girls’ under-14 title one year earlier.