Also in the proclamation, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, shown Feb. 24, 2022, cited the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which he signed in June 2021. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI |
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March 22 (UPI) -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an official proclamation Tuesday declaring Emma Weyant, a Sarasota, Fla., native and University of Virginia swimmer, the "rightful winner" of an NCAA women's swimming championship race over transgender competitor Lia Thomas.
Thomas -- the University of Pennsylvania swimmer whose record-setting season has sparked widespread debate over whether trans women should compete in female athletics -- made history last week when she won the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships.
In doing so, she became the first openly transgender athlete to win a national championship.
Weyant, a freshman at Virginia, finished a full second behind Thomas in the race. Thomas finished the sprint with a time of 4:33.24, and Weyant ended with a time of 4:34.99 for second.
In response to the results of the race, DeSantis said he would "reject these lies and recognize" Weyant as the winner instead of Thomas. DeSantis also criticized the NCAA's transgender participation policy, which allowed Thomas to compete.
In addition, DeSantis cited the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which he signed in June. The bill specifies that "an athletic team or sport that is designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex, based on the student's biological sex listed on the student's official birth certificate at the time of birth."
"By allowing men to compete in women's sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud," DeSantis said as part of the proclamation.
"In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota's Emma Weyant as the best women's swimmer in the 500y freestyle.
"The NCAA's actions serve to erode opportunities for women athletes and perpetuate a fraud against women athletes as well as the public at large. Florida rejects the NCAA's efforts to destroy women's athletics, disapproves of the NCAA elevating ideology over biology and takes offense at the NCAA trying to make others complicit in a lie."
Current NCAA policy allows transgender female athletes to compete on a college women's sports team after completing testosterone suppression treatment for a full calendar year. Thomas, a senior, had been undergoing hormone therapy for more than 2 1/2 years.
