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Fox News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Women's fencer who knelt in protest of trans athlete reacts to USA Fencing reversal of controversial policies
EXCLUSIVE: More than two months have passed since women's fencer Stephanie Turner went viral after being punished by USA Fencing for kneeling in protest of a trans opponent. And after nine weeks of immense public and federal scrutiny against USA Fencing in the aftermath of the incident, the organization amended two of its most controversial policies last weekend. The organization's board of directors changed its rule to de-prioritized states with laws deemed "harmful" to the LGBTQ population and a rule that did not guarantee the national anthem be played before every event. Turner reacted to USA Fencing's recent policy changes in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. "USA Fencing has fallen into the hands of unpatriotic tyrants who put obscure politics ahead of promoting the sport across the country. Whether to play the national anthem or not should have never been in question. And excluding states from the national tournament selection process because of their abortion and LGBT policies is ludicrous and has nothing to do with fencing," Turner said. "It makes me wonder if these policies were put into place to punish conservatives and red states. There needs to be a shakeup in USA Fencing's leadership and an audit of their social media and online platforms." Turner stepped away from competing in USA Fencing after receiving a 12-month probation for refusing to face trans athlete Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland in late March. But the fallout of the controversy had an impact on the organization and its policies right away. USA Fencing announced in late April that it is preparing to change its gender-eligibility policy. 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." However, that new policy has not been officially put in place. The incident involving Turner also prompted a Title IX investigation by President Donald Trump's administration and a congressional hearing in May. USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt was grilled by Republican lawmakers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee's "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" hearing on May 7. After the hearing, Turner told Fox News Digital that she would devote herself and her platform to pushing for resignations among key leadership figures in USA Fencing. "I'm going to be pushing for people to resign, to be honest. I'd like to see some people resign for the comments that they've made, especially publicly, ones that are harassing and meant to humiliate concerned women, mothers and daughters," Turner said. The organization's policy of prioritizing states with pro-LGBTQ laws was a particular point of scrutiny during the hearing by DOGE Subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. "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." The previous host site policy placed a number of 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 organization now claims it will have events in several of those states over the next year. "We merged several overlapping documents into one policy that scores every bid — regardless of state — on cost, safety, and travel convenience. Using this rubric, next season's national events will span nine states including Texas, Missouri, Florida, Utah, Ohio, Virginia, Oregon, Tennessee and Nevada," read a statement to Fox News Digital. USA Fencing has also provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the new anthem policy. "The anthem has always been played at the start of every national tournament. The Board simply wrote that long‑standing practice into policy and added that it will also be played on any U.S. holiday that occurs during an event, such as Independence Day, which falls during our upcoming Summer Nationals," the statement read. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
USA Fencing makes dramatic policy change months after female fencer protested facing a trans rival
USA Fencing has voted to amend policies that prioritize LGBTQ-friendly states as host venues and prevent the playing of the national anthem at certain events. The governing body's board of directors agreed on the decision following months of criticism over a female fencer who was infamously punished for refusing to face a transgender opponent earlier this year. Stephanie Turner, 31, was competing in a tournament at the University of Maryland back in April when she took a knee and walked out of her match against trans rival Redmond Sullivan, who was born a man. After refusing to compete, Turner was issued a 'blackcard' by fencing officials - which suspended her from the competition. The controversial decision has sparked outrage on social media among users left dismayed by a female athlete being punished for choosing not to line up against a biological male. Despite the uproar, USA Fencing issued a statement justifying its decision while supporting Sullivan, 20, and the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports. In the wake of that controversy, which saw woke pro-trans chairman Damien Lehfeldt scrutinized by federal lawmakers at a congressional hearing last month, USA Fencing's directors voted the changes surrounding LGBTQ-friendly sites and the national anthem at a board meeting last Saturday, reports Fox News. USA Fencing announced in an official statement that it has 'adopted a streamlined policy that applies criteria prioritizing cost, safety and convenience to every national-event bid across all 50 states.' The new policy is said to ensure host cities meet 'stringent member-safety and cost-efficiency standards.' The previous host site policy gave preference to cities without laws that 'harm members of the LGBTQ communities' and states that do not 'have laws undermining the reproductive health of women'. States on the 'do not allow' list included Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. The tweaked national anthem policy, which will go into effect at the 2025 Summer Nationals and be reviewed annually, will 'provide consistent, respectful minimum guidance for honoring the flag and anthem across nine annual tournaments.' In December of last year, the board saw a vote to play the national anthem at the start of tournaments voted down. However, USA Fencing said in a statement to Fox News: 'The anthem has always been played at the start of every national tournament. The Board simply wrote that long‑standing practice into policy and added that it will also be played on any U.S. holiday that occurs during an event, such as Independence Day, which falls during our upcoming Summer Nationals.' Weeks after Turner took a knee instead of face a trans rival, Lehfeldt - the controversial chairman of USA Fencing - endured a brutal interrogation by lawmakers over his stance on transgender athletes, including why he once compared concerned parents to the Ku Klux Klan. The incident involving Turner shone a light on Lehfeldt, who previously wrote in a blog post that 'transgender women are women' and '(they) deserve the right to compete with the gender they identify with.' Since returning to office, however, Donald Trump has signed an executive order entitled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports'. On May 7, both Turner and Lehfeldt appeared at a hearing involving a Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE). The hearing was shown a photo, apparently posted on social media by Lehfeldt, in which he made a profane two-finger gesture at the camera with the caption 'Game day'. He was grilled by lawmakers including chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, with his governing body accused of 'ignoring science' and putting 'politics ahead of women and the law.' Greene pressed him on why USA Fencing's 'site selection policy' for tournaments takes into account an area's policies on abortion and LGBT rights. 'We try to have tournaments in sites that are safe for all of our members. Period,' he said. But Lehfeldt refused to answer whether he would 'want (his) daughter to change in front of biological men in locker rooms? Yes or no.' The chairman responded to Greene: 'My daughter isn't really something that should be part of this hearing, respectfully.' Greene later posted a clip of the incident on social media and wrote: 'He couldn't say 'NO.' That tells you EVERYTHING. These people have lost all common sense.' Turner, meanwhile, claimed she was left feeling 'isolated and strangled' by USA Fencing, having spent '7,000 hours training and over $100,000' on her fencing career. Lehfeldt eventually said the organization would comply with law changes regarding transgender athletes in women's sports.
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Fencer takes knee in protest against transgender opponent
A fencer was disqualified from a women's competition in the United States after refusing to compete against a transgender Turner took a knee in protest after standing on the piste before her bout against Redmond Sullivan at the University of was shown a black card and informed she would not be allowed to continue in the women's foil Fencing Federation (FIE) rules state a fencer is not permitted to refuse to fence another properly entered fencer for any Fencing, which enacted its transgender and non-binary policy in 2023, said: "The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day."It added: "USA Fencing will always err on the side of inclusion, and we're committed to amending the policy as more relevant evidence-based research emerges, or as policy changes take effect in the wider Olympic and Paralympic movement."Explaining her decision, Turner - of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia - told Fox News, external: "I saw that I was going to be in a pool with Redmond, and from there I said: 'OK, let's do it. I'm going to take the knee.'"I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy]," she added."When I took the knee, I looked at the ref and I said: 'I'm sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women's tournament. And I will not fence this individual.'"Responding to Turner's disqualification on 30 March, USA Fencing said: "In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification, which applies to this tournament only, was not related to any personal statement but was merely the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE rules clearly prohibit. "USA Fencing is obligated to follow the letter of those rules and ensure that participants respect the standards set at the international level. We remain committed to inclusivity within our sport while also upholding every requirement dictated by our governing body."While The Cherry Blossom competition was held at the University of Maryland, it was not an NCAA February, the NCAA changed its policy to say that only "student-athletes assigned female at birth" will be allowed to take part in collegiate competitions, after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order preventing transgender women from competing in female categories of has competed in more than 200 fencing matches, including the national championships, while Sullivan, of Wagner College, has won 18 of her 45 previous bouts. She placed 24th out of 39 fencers at the Maryland event.
