Texas’ rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into US Masters Swimming, a national membership nonprofit for competitive non-colleagiate swimmers over the age of 25, for allegedly allowing a transgender woman to swim at the organization’s 2025 Spring Nationals swim meet held in San Antonio last April.
His investigation follows his recent lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in which he seeks to force the organization to conduct medical examinations to verify the biological sex of college and university athletes.
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Texas AG Ken Paxton sues NCAA for “deceptive” marketing for letting trans women compete
He argues that “consumers” attend women’s sports to see cis women compete, not trans women.
“The policy of US Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women’s events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas’ consumer protection laws. Not only is this policy insulting to female athletes, but it also demonstrates deep contempt for women and may violate Texas law,” Paxton said in a press release announcing his investigation, according to The Dallas Voice. “The investigation will uncover documents related to US Masters Swimming and determine if the organization engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices.”
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Paxton’s investigation will likely focus on Ana Caldas, a trans woman who placed first during the nationals’ 50 and 100-yard breaststroke, the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard individual medley races.
Paxton has largely followed the U.S. president’s lead in seeking to ban trans athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. In February, Paxton expanded his probe of state school districts and officials to examine how many allow trans athletes to compete.
Paxton sued the NCAA last December, claiming that the organization violated the Texas Trade Practices Act by falsely advertising its events as women’s competitions while actually allowing “biological males” to compete.
In February, Paxton filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in order to force the organization to conduct medical examinations to verify the biological sex of college and university athletes. The NCAA recently banned trans women from competing on women’s teams, but Paxton’s lawsuit claims that “the NCAA’s lack of sex-screening has allowed (and will continue to allow) biological men to surreptitiously participate in ‘women’s’ sports categories.” The NCAA has denied Paxton’s claims.
The NCAA banned trans female athletes in order to comply with an executive order threatening any colleges or universities that allow trans female athletes on women’s teams. However, Paxton and other right-wingers have accused the NCAA of “falsely and deceptively claiming that only biological women may participate in female-specific competitions” while providing “ample opportunity for biological men to alter their birth records and participate in women’s sports.”
Paxton hopes to use anti-LGBTQ+ politics to win a U.S. Senate seat
Last April, Paxton announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent John Cornyn (R-TX) in 2026.
Paxton was previously impeached by the Texas House in 2023 for 16 counts of bribery but was later acquitted by the Texas Senate. The FBI also investigated him for years for securities fraud, but the Department of Justice eventually dropped its investigation. He also settled a state securities fraud case against him, paying $300,000 and participating in community service to avoid legal charges.
During his tenure as state attorney general, Paxton has said consensual encounters between consenting same-sex adults should be illegal and that state workers can deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He has argued that doctors should be allowed to deny care to transgender patients and that it should be legal to discriminate against trans people at work, and he has tried to force a school to cancel its Pride week. He also tried to prosecute gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth as a form of “child abuse” (something that hindered the state’s ability to investigate actual child abuse).
Paxton has sued for the right to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students, sued a group that highlighted the rise in hate speech on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, and recently sued the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) to force it to inspect every athlete’s gender before allowing them to play. He has also been trying to compile a list of trans Texans and to obtain trans people’s medical records from other states.
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