In less than a month, a trans-identifying male is slated to compete in the girls’ category at the North American Irish Dance Championship (NAIDC) over the Fourth of July in Orlando, Florida. Concerned Women for America has followed this case for over three years. Yet the Irish dance powers-that-be continue to refuse to protect their female dancers, as “Alyssa” Saltzman continues to dominate girls’ competitions and rob female dancers of the medals and titles they deserve.
During the Biden administration, the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) and An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) got away with permitting male participation in women’s sports. Saltzman took the top of the podium three years in a row at the Southern Region Oireachtas, bumping hundreds of girls out of podium spots, World Championships qualifications, and medal-awarding placements.
This year, Saltzman’s gold-medal-theft streak can come to an end. The Orlando NAIDC, as planned, will directly violate Florida state law. Under Florida’s women’s sports protections, no male may compete in a women’s sports category at any public accommodation, such as a hotel or convention center. This year’s NAIDC is set to take place at Orlando’s Rosen Center, a public accommodation, well within the Florida Attorney General’s jurisdiction.
Florida Attorney General James Uthemeier has enforced Florida’s women’s sports protections with precision. In January, AG Uthemeier raised a lawsuit against U.S. Masters Swimming for refusing to protect the women’s category in its swim meets located in Florida, and in April, he launched an investigation into Miss America and Miss Florida after the organizations stripped Kayleigh Bush of her Miss Florida title for refusing to sign a contract binding her to acknowledge trans-identifying men as women in competition.
CLRG and IDTANA’s policy clearly cannot ensure that men are not competing against women, depriving women of the protections due to them in Florida. In a 2023 email obtained by Concerned Women for America, the IDTANA Southern Region Director wrote to Southern Region IDTANA members:
When I was first questioned about transgender dancers entering the SRO, I contacted many Committee Chairpersons in both the CLRG and the IDTANA, who I thought might have experience with transgender entries for … qualifying events. All these contacts contributed to my understanding that the precedent in the CLRG and IDTANA defines the custom and practice of accepting World Championship Qualifying Event entries from dancers based on the gender identity of their everyday lives. Not a single person said that transgender dancers’ entries were only accepted for competitions that align with the dancer’s gender as identified at birth.
I convened a meeting of the Southern Region Executive Board after providing each director with a summary of my research to consider. We had a candid discussion about this subject. I proposed this motion to the SREB: “At the Southern Region Qualifying Oireachtas, dancers may compete in the competition appropriate for the gender they identify as in their everyday life, without regard for their gender at birth.” The motion passed in a secret ballot.
This internal policy decision is reflected in the IDTANA’s guidebook for teachers:
IDTANA’s policies explicitly allow trans-identifying males like “Alyssa” Saltzman to compete in the girls’ category so long as he “identifies” as a girl. These policies directly violate sovereign Florida laws. More than that, the IDTANA’s policy is far from “inclusive,” as male participation in girls’ Irish Dance places female dancers at an unfair disadvantage.
The IDTANA must comply with Florida law ahead of the NAIDC and amend its policies to designate the girls’ and ladies’ and boys’ and men’s categories on biological sex, not gender identity. This change will not only reflect the scientific reality, but create an environment of fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for women and girls.
Right now, thousands of girls are spending countless hours in the studio practicing for the NAIDC. I know, because I’ve been there—through hours upon hours in the studio from age eight to twenty, countless bloodied socks, fiberglass hard shoe tips worn thin, and an impressive collection of stamps in my passport, Irish dance made me the woman that I am today.
Irish Dance taught me how to compete with grace, fail without quitting, succeed without pride, and be patient when sidelined with injury. It taught me how to be a teammate, student, teacher, and a sportsmanlike competitor.
The 2021 North American Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona, was my very last competition before I hung up my dance shoes. As a retired dancer, I want Irish Dance to continue forging young women of character, grace, and grit—but it cannot do so if the Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America (IDTANA) and An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), as the trusted stewards of an ancient art, do not acknowledge womanhood at all. The Irish dance governing bodies have deliberately chosen a science-denying ideology over dignity, safety, fairness, and equal opportunity for women and girls.
Please join CWA in prayer as we work to make this coming NAIDC safe and fair for women and girls, and that the IDTANA and CLRG, whether by a change of heart or the rule of law, change their policies to protect girls’ Irish dance for girls only.
