Disgraced Texas AG Paxton Drums Up Anti-Trans “Commerce” Charges Against Adult Swim League

The adult-only amateur swim league caved under Attorney General Ken Paxton’s legal threats, and got sued anyways.

Photo by Trac Vu on Unsplash

Texas Attorney General and struggling Senate candidate Ken Paxton, whose career has been saturated with allegations of repeated infidelity and financial misconduct, is using the power and purse of the state to sue an amateur swim league. Paxton claims its trans-inclusive policies constitute fraud, even after the organization amended those policies to sanction trans women in a failed effort to appease the AG.

Paxton announced that he was investigating U.S. Masters Swimming, a non-profit, purely recreational league for adults, in May, citing the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The USMS has long held competitions in three categories—men’s, women’s, and mixed. Under the old policy, trans women could compete in the women’s category after a prerequisite period of being on hormone replacement therapy; there were no restrictions on trans men.

Its interim update now requires athletes to prove their sex assigned at birth. This process may require a participant to provide their “birth certificate, government identification, or relevant medical tests to support a member's statements on their sex assigned at birth. Any cost will be the responsibility of the member.” Trans women and some intersex people may still swim in the women’s category, but they are not permitted to “rank” or receive a title. Trans men still face no restrictions.

Paxton’s complaint also says the new policies “require women to acknowledge the participation of transgender athletes before they can sign-up for memberships and events.”

Because there is no universal, scientific consensus on binary, absolute categories of sex, “female” and “male” are defined as whatever a person was assigned at birth. The process of assigning sex at birth is brief, somewhat subjective, and does not take into account internal genitalia, hormone production, or chromosomal make-up.

As of publication, the USMS could not be reached for comment. However, the group told the Texas Tribune in a statement that they first were made aware of the lawsuit through a social media post, that it had been cooperative with Paxton’s investigation, and that it would continue to adhere to state requirements.

“It is deeply disappointing to see our organization and individual members publicly targeted in a lawsuit that appears to be more about generating headlines than seeking justice,” a July 18 statement from USMS reads.

The policy mirrors a recent move by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to disallow a trans teenager and track and field athlete, AB Hernandez, from ranking unless a presumed-cis girl was also awarded a consolation spot. Such policies not only discriminate against trans women; they also constitute forced outing under the threat of sanction.

Meanwhile, Paxton’s complaint centers on three women in Texas presumed to be trans. The organization has 60,000 members nationwide, the Tribune reports.

Paxton, who has spent an innumerable amount of state funds attacking trans people and antagonizing trans children and their families, called the USMS’s trans inclusion efforts “gender warfare.”

In June, the Federal Trade Commission hosted a highly unprecedented and widely condemned “workshop” on weaponizing commerce laws to target trans people, featuring panels of well-known anti-trans sycophants and Christian fundamentalists.

Paxton appears to be taking a page from the same playbook. The lawsuit names no plaintiffs who contested the participation of trans women. Instead, he says that “consumers that were the subject of U.S. Masters Swimming’s deception are not limited to those who have swam alongside transgender athletes.” Instead, any “individual, partnership, corporation, this state, or a subdivision or agency of this state who seeks or acquires [...] any goods or services” from USMS is a supposed victim.

The investigation also evidently lit a similar fire under Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who threatened its own local USMS divisions with legal action, even after the interim policy was implemented.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Texas legislators convened for a special session at the statehouse to address issues that Governor Greg Abbott deemed too timely to wait until the typical legislative calendar resumes. This includes disaster relief (in light of the recent Central Texas floods that killed over 100 people), THC regulation, and various anti-trans initiatives, such as a “bathroom bill” and proposals banning “DEI” or “LGBTQ indoctrination” at institutions of higher education and state agencies.

As for the felony fraud charges facing Paxton, the decade-long legal battle abruptly ended last year. Paxton agreed to mandatory community service hours and restitution fees in order to avoid jail time.