USA Fencing changes policies that prioritized LGBTQ-friendly states, prevented playing of national anthem
USA Fencing's board of directors voted to amend its current policy that prioritized states with LGBTQ-friendly laws for host sites for competitions and a policy that prevented the playing of the national anthem at some events.
The decision comes after months of criticism for punishing a woman fencer who refused to fence a trans opponent, which included scrutiny from federal lawmakers at a congressional hearing in early May.
The changes were voted into effect at a board of directors meeting on Saturday.
An official announcement states that USA Fencing "adopted a streamlined policy that applies criteria prioritizing cost, safety and convenience to every national-event bid across all 50 states." The new policy "ensures host cities meet stringent member-safety and cost-efficiency standards."
Meanwhile, the board's new national anthem policy will go into effect at the 2025 Summer Nationals and will be reviewed annually by the tournament committee.
"On recommendation of the tournament committee, the board adopted a uniform national anthem policy governing all USA Fencing national events," the announcement said, adding that the new policy will "provide consistent, respectful minimum guidance for honoring the flag and anthem across nine annual tournaments."
Back in December, the board held a vote to play the national anthem at the start of tournaments before "all NACs and National Championships," but it was voted against 8-2 with one abstention.
The previous host site policy, which was announced in November 2022, gave preference when selecting host cities for national tournaments to states without laws that "harm members of LGBTQ communities" and states that do not "have laws undermining the reproductive health of women."
That policy went into effect in the 2023 season, the same year it changed its gender policy. It later released a list of states that it intended to "avoid where possible" and the states that it flat out would not allow hosting major events.
The states on the "do not allow" list were Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
The states on its "avoid where possible" list included Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
The previous policy became one of the organization's biggest points of criticism after fencer Stephanie Turner ignited global backlash against the organization when she recorded a video of her kneeling in protest of a trans opponent during a competition in Maryland in late March.
The footage went viral amid news that Turner was disqualified from the event and dealt a black card for refusing to fence.
The controversy was then the subject of a federal hearing on May 7. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee's "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" saw Turner testify against USA Fencing chair Damien Lehfeldt.
Lehfeldt took harsh criticism from Republican lawmakers for the organization's transgender inclusion and host site selection policies.
DOGE Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called out the organization for its host city policy.
"In selecting sites for its national fencing events, for instance, the board policy is to avoid states whose laws and policies on LGBTQ rights and abortion it opposes. It uses 'Equality Maps' to determine which states to blacklist from its competitions, and which to favor," Greene said.
"This ends up favoring a lot of blue states and harming a lot of red ones. So, it creates politically-determined winners and losers — but it has absolutely nothing to do with fencing. And it contradicts USA Fencing's statutory duty as an NGB to 'develop interest and participation throughout the United States' in fencing."
USA Fencing also announced that it is preparing to change its current policy that allows trans athletes to compete in the women's category back in April.
"In the event that USA Fencing is forced to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex," the announcement read.
The proposed updated policy ensures that the women's category "will be open exclusively to athletes of the female sex." The men's category "will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition."
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