Florida's governor is stepping into the middle of a controversy over a transgender athlete who won an NCAA Division I swimming championship last week. Penn's Lia Thomas defeated Sarasota's Emma Weyant by 1 3/4 seconds in the 500-meter freestyle. Still, in the governor's eyes, Weyant is the *real* women's champion, and he acknowledged that with a proclamation.
In an appearance in Wesley Chapel, the governor referred to Thomas as a man. He accused the NCAA of perpetuating fraud by putting ideology ahead of opportunity for women athletes.
Governor DeSantis said, "If you look at what the NCAA has done by allowing, basically, men to compete in women's athletics, in this case, swimming, you had the number one woman who finished was from Sarasota, Emma Weyant. She won the silver medal. She's been a superstar her whole career."
"We need to stop allowing organizations like the NCAA to perpetuate fraud on the public, and that's exactly what they're doing, " DeSantis added.
Last year, DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act into law. It bans transgender athletes in Florida from participating in women's sports.
From the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas made history as the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship.
The governor's proclamation declared Emma Weyant the best female swimmer in the 500-meter freestyle "because she earned that."
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