Gender-confused boy wins girls’ Irish dancing competition for the third straight year

(LifeSiteNews) — Elias “Alyssa” Saltzman, a boy, won the girls’ Irish dancing title for the third year in a row, taking first place in the U16 solo category at the 2025 Southern Region Oireachtas on December 7. The story was first reported by Reduxx, which noted that Saltzman “first came to public scrutiny in 2023 after taking first place in the Southern Region Oireachtas U14 girls’ category, seizing a highly coveted spot at the World Championships.”

As I noted in a 2024 report, the transgender movement’s conquest of Irish dancing — one of the country’s richest cultural traditions — has been ongoing for some time; that year, a trans-identifying American boy qualified to compete against females in the Irish Dancing World Championship. As the Irish Independent noted, “The success of the dancer, who is understood to have previously competed in a male category, prompted some complaints from parents and discussion within the world of Irish dancing.”

Saltzman’s participation in girls’ Irish dancing has also attracted the ire of parents. P.J. McCafferty, regional director of the Irish Dance Teachers’ Association in the Southern Region, released a statement on Facebook on November 21 (before Saltzman’s win) defending his participation in the girls’ category, acknowledging “a great deal of upset” about the decision regarding “transgender Irish dancers”:

Entering and competing in the CLRG World Championship competition that corresponds to the gender identity of the dancer is an established CLRG precedent, it has been done before. A dancer must qualify for the specific World Championship competition in which they will dance. CLRG controls Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne and the process of qualifying to compete for the CLRG World Championship. The Southern Region is obligated to follow CLRG policy. Similarly, entering in the Regional Qualifier competition that corresponds to the gender identity of a dancer is an established precedent for IDTANA competitions, it has been done before including in the IDTANA-Southern Region Oireachtas.

I am writing this post to remind everyone that we teach all the dancers. We advocate for every one of our dancers. We do our very best to be fair to everyone. This situation is not easy for anyone. Not everyone’s point of view or personal interests align. I am asking for your tolerance. You are expected to respect all the dancers.

Of course, McCafferty avoided the point of contention — that it is, in fact, not fair to make girls compete against boys, which is why there are separate leagues for girls and boys in the first place. The “personal interest” of girls is a fair shot at the top prizes, and that means getting to compete against other girls. Saltzman has been taking prizes intended for girls. He is not a girl. That should not be “tolerated” because it is not fair. Parents are expected to “respect” trans activism despite what it means for their daughters.

Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.

His insights have been featured on CTV, Global News, and the CBC, as well as over twenty radio stations. He regularly speaks on a variety of social issues at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

He is the author of The Culture War, Seeing is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion, Patriots: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Pro-Life Movement, Prairie Lion: The Life and Times of Ted Byfield, and co-author of A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide with Blaise Alleyne.

Jonathon serves as the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.