WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, condemned swimming’s international governing body, FINA, for its new policy to ban transgender women from participating in swimming competitions. The new policy from FINA, released on Sunday, June 19, 2022, comes at a time when transgender people are under attack in states across the country. It requires that transgender swimmers complete their transition by the age of 12 — an unrealistic and effectively impossible requirement especially as some states, including Alabama and Arkansas, are attempting to ban transgender youth from accessing the very same age-appropriate, medically necessary gender-affirming care that would allow them to comply with this policy.
