I just plugged “Is Riverdance Irish dancing” into a search engine. Turns out the answer is yes.
Do you remember the Riverdance craze? In the late ’90s, people could not get enough of this traditional (probably?) style of Irish dancing, often performed in tap shoes and without arms.
Wait, that’s not what I mean. I don’t mean that the dancers didn’t have arms. They did, they just kept their arms to their side much of the time as their feet skedaddled and went clickity clack.
And people loved it. I did not because I was in my late teens and was too busy kissing and wanting to kiss girls. But to each their own.
As far as I’m concerned, dancing is for anyone who wants to do it. Granted, people need to know their limitations. There’s a big difference between cutting up at your cousin’s wedding and trying out for a ballet company. But dancing can be a fun thing to do.
As I’m sure I’ve made clear, I don’t know much about dancing. Which is fine because, one, I’m not a dancer and, two, I don’t make decisions about who can and can’t dance.
That decision is apparently up to U.S. Reps. Randy Fine and Greg Steube, both Florida Republicans, who have taken a keen interest in the North American Irish Dance Championships that took place in Orlando July 1-7.
And what makes them so interested in this particular dance championship? Are these men competitors? Professional dancers? Dance coaches? Scholars of Irish dance? Or even huge Irish dance fans?
No, as far as I could find. Neither of them appears qualified to call the shots about who can and can’t participate in this competition.
They are, however, experts in anti-trans bigotry. And the fact that there’s a trans dancer in the competition is something they cannot let stand.
Why? Because Florida has anti-trans laws on the books to “protect” women and women’s sports by discriminating against trans people. And these three grown men want very much for the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association of North America (IDTANA) to kick a specific trans child out.
And this is why inclusive anti-discrimination policies are important. Not that they change the minds of anti-trans bigots, but they do clearly show people where you stand, which I imagine means a lot to a trans dancer and their family.
“As a core value, IDTANA is committed to preserving and promoting Irish Dance in an environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment,” reads the statement in the event’s syllabus. “We support a culture where every dancer, family, teacher, and volunteer feels safe, respected and valued through creating an environment that provides dancers, regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, income, race or sexual orientation, opportunities to learn and grow as dancers and people.”
Of course, Reps. Fine and Steube take issue with this policy because the IDTANA is not practicing the kind of discrimination and harassment they claim is required by Florida law.
“Your inclusivity policy has allowed a trans-identifying male to repeatedly steal titles and placements from his female peers, including at competitions in Florida,” reads a letter to IDTANA signed by both Fine and Steube. They then proceed to call out this dancer by name and misgender her over and over again.
Regarding this dancer’s achievements, they write, “This outcome involving the male dancer comes as no surprise, as we have witnessed male athletes dominate women’s sports by virtue of biological advantages.”
To hear Reps. Fine and Steube tell it, male athletes dominating in women’s sports is something that happens all of the time. The amount of attention this issue has gotten by Republicans in Congress and at the state level across the country would lead one to believe that trans athletes are coming out of the woodwork to steal titles away from girls and women.
That is, however, not the case. First and foremost, transgender women and girls are women and girls. Full stop, fuck you. Second, the trans athletes being targeted by men like Fine and Steube are largely children and are few and far between. In fact, one of the cases that the U.S. Supreme Court just decided regarding trans student athletes was centered on a single child. One kid. With the full force and fury of the most powerful people in the country aimed directly at them, personally.
This is laser-focused harassment and discrimination. It is unconscionable.
I don’t know what happened at the 2026 North American Irish Dance Championships. The event had yet to conclude at the time of this writing, but I couldn’t find any news that it had been impeded by the grown-ass men incensed by a trans teenager daring to dance.
To these three men and everyone who agrees with them, I say with all sincerity: cry me a Riverdance.