U.S.A. Fencing Backtracks on Pro-Transgender Rules After National Controversy

U.S.A. Fencing has softened some of its more radical rules supporting transgender contestants after incurring a massive backlash for punishing a female fencer who refused to face a transgender opponent.

The board of directors for the sport governing body softened its former stance, which stated that it would not allow sanctioned events to be held in states that ban transgender athletes. The board also ended a rule that seemed to prevent the playing of the national anthem at events, Fox News reported.

The organization insisted it “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.”

“On recommendation of the tournament committee, the board adopted a uniform national anthem policy governing all USA Fencing national events,” the organization said of its discussions on the anthem. The new rule will “provide consistent, respectful minimum guidance for honoring the flag and anthem across nine annual tournaments.”

The move comes after last December’s vote, when the board refused to approve a measure that stated the national anthem would be played at the start of “all NACs and National Championships.” In December, the board defeated that measure 8-2. The anthem will now be played at the start of all events.

The board also changed its rules that gave national tournament hosting privileges to states without laws that “harm members of LGBTQ communities” and states that do not “have laws undermining the reproductive health of women.”

In the rules adopted in 2022, U.S.A. Fencing said it had banned events in the states of Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.

However, now that list has been discarded, and the organization claims it has agreed to host events in many of these same states in the upcoming season.

Now, the criteria for awarding events are to be based more on practical matters, not radical, left-wing politics.

“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,” the organization told Fox News.

It does not appear that the organization changed any of its rules that allow transgender athletes to compete as women.

U.S.A. Fencing became the focus of controversy in April after competitor Stephanie Turner took a knee and refused to compete against a man who identifies as a woman at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland.

When Turner learned that she would be facing off against transgender fencer Redmond Sullivan, she wanted her protest to be caught on video and decided to take a knee just before the match began. She had already participated in warmups and competed in four bouts that day.

Turner was punished by the organization and disqualified from USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open for refusing to face the trans opponent. She was also punished by being put on a one-year probation.

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