The NAACP and YMCA chapters in Duluth, Minnesota, are lending their support to a 12-year-old Black swimmer who was temporarily disqualified from a competition because of her Black Lives Matter swimsuit.
Leidy Gellona was inspired to iron letters onto her swimsuit that read “Black Lives Matter” prior to her competition at Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin, on Sunday. While getting ready for her second race of the day, Gellona was approached by a YMCA volunteer official who told her she couldn’t participate with the swimsuit she had on.
Upon hearing about the issue, Gellona’s mother, Sarah Lyons, reached out to the Duluth NAACP and raised the issue with the staff at the YMCA, which was acting as the host site for the school’s swim meet.
In a statement sent out that Sunday, the YMCA Duluth chapter sided with Lyons and stated that the volunteer had “inappropriately barred” the student. YMCA leadership reversed the decision and allowed her back into competition that day.
“An independent volunteer official inappropriately barred a student athlete from taking part in the meet, due to their ‘Black Lives Matter’ swimsuit, stating that it ‘went against USA Swimming’s policy of no political language,’” the YMCA said in its statement.
The YMCA also barred the volunteer swim meet official from participating in all future swim meets at its facility.
“Duluth YMCA will work to hold independent officials accountable for further education to address systemic racism,” the organization said. “The official is not associated with the Duluth YMCA and will be banned from any further Duluth YMCA hosted swim meets.”
“I went to my mom and told her, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to take it off,’ and my mom was like, ‘OK,’” Gellona said in a sit-down interview with CNN’s “New Day.” “So she went to talk to the official, and she started making phone calls because I said no.”
Lyons told CNN that she supported her daughter’s decision to keep her swimsuit on.
In a statement obtained by CNN, the Duluth NAACP chapter said “we need to protect our young Black girls and stand up against racism without being performative.”
During the CNN interview, Gellona said that she “felt bad and disrespected” after the incident, but she has received support from people on social media, including NBA star LeBron James.