Exclusive | Female fencer who took a knee is invited to testify before Congress alongside trans inclusionary USA Fencing chair

A female fencer who was disqualified from a tournament after refusing to compete against a transgender opponent has been invited to testify before Congress — alongside the chairman of USA Fencing who has backed “trans inclusion” in the sport.Stephanie Turner, 31, took a knee instead of fencing against Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old who was born biologically male, at USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland on March 30.Now Turner is being invited before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) to answer questions about the incident — and USA Fencing Board Chair Damien Lehfeldt has also been invited to attend.Lehfeldt, in an August 2023 blog post, claimed that “transgender women are women and gender is not sex” as USA Fencing began allowing transgender athletes to compete in the women’s category after completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.The chair also opposed separate athletic divisions for trans athletes since that would be “antithetical to USA Fencing’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) vision.”“Transgender fencers deserve the right to compete with the gender they identify with, and those of adult age should comply with the competition guidelines and regulations outlined by USA Fencing and the IOC—even if the science those [sic] IOC guidelines might be imperfect,” Lehfeldt wrote.“There is a possibility that transgender women have a physical advantage over their cisgender opponents after transitioning.There is also a possibility they do not.

In Fencing, there is no data to support either viewpoint.”He added: “Giving athletes a sense of belonging and a will to live is more powerful than medals and competitive glory.”The hearing is scheduled for May 7.“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,” said DOGE subco...