Florida’s top cop is bringing national nonprofit US Masters Swimming to court, claiming sex discrimination and false advertisement because the organization permits transgender women to swim in female events.
The suit was filed following a US Supreme Court oral argument Tuesday over Tennessee’s ban on transgender women student athletes. Florida’s complaint closely aligns with a suit Texas filed in July against the group, which holds events for its roughly 70,000 adult members across the country.
“US Masters Swimming still advertises women’s divisions while allowing men to compete in them,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said in a statement posted to X.
The organization and its Florida affiliate “have created a discriminatory nuisance—which constitutes a public nuisance—that has caused enormous public harm in Florida and continues to jeopardize the health and safety of Florida residents,” the complaint says.
The state will have to convince the court why strong protections for private associations embedded in the First Amendment won’t doom its lawsuit; those protections have allowed groups to discriminate in membership and leadership for decades.
US Masters Swimming didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The organization created a marketing campaign called “Swimsuits Not Lawsuits” after it was sued by Texas.
“Under our interim eligibility policy, trans women are not eligible to receive competitive recognition in the female category but are allowed to participate. Everyone gets to swim,” the organization said on its website.
The case is Florida v. United States Masters Swimming, Inc., Fla. Cir. Ct., No. 2026 CA 000180, complaint filed 1/13/26.
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