Governor Ron DeSantis Declares Emma Weyant, the ‘Real Winner’
The question for many conservatives is why are there are only a handful of Republican governors leading the fight against social justice activism.
Fortunately for those living in the Sunshine State, their state’s Chief Executive Officer is leading the way.
Last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed into law a bill banning transgender athletes from female teams. It was one of the most controversial bills of the 2021 legislative session, making female athletes’ eligibility for sports teams contingent on their “biological sex” on birth certificates issued “at or near the time of the student’s birth.”
“I can tell you this: in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports, and boys are going to play boys’ sports,” DeSantis said the day he signed the bill. “That’s what we’re doing, and we’re going to make sure that that’s the reality.”
The NCAA updated its transgender participation policy back in January to defer to the guidance of each sport’s governing body. The NCAA announced that its policy would become effective in March, starting with the Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Governor Ron DeSantis has proclaimed that Olympic silver medalist and Florida native Emma Weyant to be the true winner of the NCAA 500-yard freestyle championship despite being beaten by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas last week.
Weyant, who came in second during the March 17 competition at the NCAA championships held at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center, received hearty congratulations from Gov. DeSantis during a Tuesday press conference WFLA reported.
“She earned that. We need to honor that appropriately,” DeSantis told the media.
“The NCAA is basically takings efforts to destroy women’s athletics,” DeSantis added. “They’re trying to undermine the integrity of the competition. They’re crowning somebody else the women’s champion, and we think that’s wrong.”
On DeSantis’ Twitter account, the proclamation lists Weyant’s accomplishments, calling her the “rightful winner” before declaring, “Florida rejects the NCAA’s efforts to destroy women’s athletics, disapproves of the NCAA elevating ideology over biology, and takes offense at the NCAA trying to make others complicit in a lie.”
Florida is one of a handful of states that have passed laws meant to protect women’s sports and barring men who “identify” as women from competing against natural-born females.
“We thought it was very important that girls and young women athletes in the state of Florida had the ability to work hard, to realize their dreams, and to compete fairly,” the gov. said of Florida’s law. “Whether it’s in swimming, it’s in track and field, you name it.”
Weyant earned a time of 4:34.99 to Thomas’ 4:33.24 to come in second in the 500 freestyle last week.
Despite the NCAA’s claim that Lia Thomas was the winner, though, Weyant became celebrated on social media as the real winner of the event, with many social media users saying that they “identify” Weyant as the winner.
If this issue doesn’t get resolved, women’s sports will eventually be phased out, leading to age-specific sports instead, with men dominating all of them.
It will be sad if this takes place, especially for those girls who are giving their all trying to earn a scholarship so they can attend college too.
By: Eric Thompson, editor of Eric Thompson Show.