USA Fencing transgender controversy gets DOGE hearing after Stephanie Turner is punished for protest kneel

DOGE subcommittee Chairwoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday announced a hearing addressing USA Fencing's gender eligibility policies that allow biological male transgender athletes to compete in the women's category. 

The hearing is scheduled for May 7. 

The announcement comes weeks after women's fencer Stephanie Turner was punished for kneeling in protest of a trans competitor in a widely publicized incident. 

Turner has been invited to the hearing along with Damien Lehfeldt, board chair of USA Fencing, to testify.

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"Women's sports are for women only. Radical leftists pushing to let biological men compete against women are destroying fair competition and putting female athletes in physical danger. Stephanie Turner had the courage to call out this insanity, and she's a hero to women across America," Greene said in the announcement. 

"USA Fencing must be held accountable for demeaning women and denying them of the chance to succeed in their own sport. It is out of compliance with President Trump's executive order and it should not be recognized as the National Governing Body for fencing if it continues to defy the law."

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced Friday a newly formed Title IX investigations team will be probing the incident involving Turner and trans competitor Redmond Sullivan. 

USA Fencing previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying it will cooperate with the investigation. 

"USA Fencing will respond and cooperate to any inquiry as required by law," the statement said. 

The incident involving Turner quickly drew national attention after a video of her taking a knee to protest Sullivan went viral. The footage ignited widespread awareness and backlash against USA Fencing's gender eligibility policies. 

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Turner told Fox News Digital she decided to take a knee the night before the event when she checked the competition pools and saw she would be competing against Sullivan.

"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,'" Turner said. "I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy]."

USA Fencing previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the incident. 

"USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and nonbinary athlete policy in 2023. The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces. 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," the statement said.

A USA Fencing spokesperson also told Fox News Digital Turner was not penalized for her stance against trans inclusion. She was penalized for refusing to compete. 

"In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification 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," the spokesperson said.

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USA Fencing then addressed the controversy with a public statement Thursday, defending its trans-inclusion policies. 

"USA Fencing remains committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful community for everyone in our sport. We believe in the principle of creating safe communities where all athletes, and community members, have a place," the statement said. 

"While we understand there are a range of perspectives, USA Fencing will continue to engage in respectful, research-based dialogue and review as policy evolves in the Olympic and Paralympic movement as well as domestic law. Hate speech of any kind is not acceptable - online or in person. Let's keep the conversation respectful and the strip welcoming to all." 

The organization first enacted its current trans-inclusion policy in 2023. It allows transgender athletes to compete in the women's category at both the junior and senior level after completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment. Proof of compliant hormone therapy must be provided prior to competition, but the organization has taken even further steps to prioritize its trans competitors. 

In November 2022, it announced a policy to give 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 during 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.

In December, the nonprofit Fair Fencing Organization penned an open letter to USA Fencing board members, urging the reevaluation of its stance on several issues, including transgender inclusion.

Just days later, however, board members voted against several motions to approve an all-female task force to re-evaluate and revise the current transgender policy, in an 8-3 vote. Now, after siding against women fencers seeking protection from trans inclusion, USA Fencing finds itself with a global controversy after Turner's viral protest. 

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