Latest news with #USAFencing
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Female fencer who refused to face trans rival sends gushing message to Trump after dramatic Team USA reversal
Stephanie Turner would do it all over again. The fencer who was disqualified and suspended over her refusal to face a transgender opponent at a USA Fencing event in April initially feared she'd ruined her life with the decision. 'This has caused so much of a hindrance to my life personally, and it's caused me so much emotional turmoil that I'm just so glad this is over and that there are a lot of women and girls out there who are very appreciative of this victory,' Turner, a Maryland native and self-described former Democrat, told Fox News. Since her suspension, Turner testified before a House Oversight DOGE Subcommittee hearing on the subject in May, while Team USA and USA Fencing have both changed policy regarding transgender athletes in women's competition. Effective August 1, USA Fencing will allow only 'athletes who are of the female sex' in women's competition. Meanwhile, men's events will be open to 'all athletes not eligible for the women's category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes.' Turner now says she has no regrets over her protest and credits USA Fencing's decision to President Donald Trump and his executive order rescinding funding to organizations that allow transgender athletes to compete with women and girls. 'I just have to say thank you [to Trump],' Turner said. 'I voted for him, and this was a huge reason why I voted for him. And to see him come through for me and for women and girls so soon into his administration, it just, I mean, that's a huge victory. I've never seen politics work in my favor immediately, effectively, efficiently. … I'm just so grateful for that executive order.' The advocacy group that represents Turner, The Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS), is now pushing for mandatory gender screenings for all female athletes. 'The next critical step is for the USOPC to implement sex screening protocols,' read a group statement. 'This will ensure that women are guaranteed equal, fair and safe opportunities in athletic competition. ICONS will not rest until every girl, at every level, in every sport has access to fair competition and privacy in locker rooms. 'The U.S. has a chance to be a leader in standing up for the fair treatment of women around the world.' Gender screenings typically rely on genetic testing and involve a cheek swab. Critics have argued that the process could discriminate against those with intersex characteristics since birth. Speaking with Fox, Turner echoed support for genetic testing. 'Enforcement of this policy is going to be essential,' Turner said. 'You can't rely on documentation anymore. You can't rely on drivers license(s), you can't rely on birth certificates because those can all be edited.' The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee banned transgender women from competing in women's sports earlier this week, telling various federations it has an 'obligation to comply' with Trump's executive order. 'As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,' USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a statement. 'Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Olympic, Paralympic officials ban transgender women athletes
The Brief Transgender women have been banned from competing in Olympic and Paralympic events. The new policy was announced quietly on Monday. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said it had an "obligation to comply" with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively banned transgender women from competing in women's sports. The committee told the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an "obligation to comply" with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The change, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC's website and confirmed in a letter sent to national governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year. New policy Dig deeper The USOPC's transgender eligibility policy page now includes a note that reads, "As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy." That policy does not lay out any clear guidelines regarding trans inclusion in women's sports. However, it does include one paragraph that directly cites Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. USA Fencing was one of the first US Olympic organizations to publicly announce it has updated its gender eligibility policy after months of criticism for allowing biological males to compete in the women's category. The organization appeared to update its policy last week to include the following requirements for competing in domestic women's competitions: "Athletes who are of the female sex, provided all other entry criteria have been met." The new policy will go into effect beginning next month. The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs. The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls' and women's sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court after critics challenged the policies as discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes. The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. The Source Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and FOX News.
Straits Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
US Olympic officials bar transgender women from women's competitions
US President Donald Trump invites young female athletes as he signs No Men in Women's Sports Executive Order on Feb 5. NEW YORK – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) quietly changed its eligibility rules on July 21 to bar transgender women from competing in Olympic women's sports, and now will comply with President Donald Trump's executive order on the issue. The new policy, expressed in a short, vaguely worded paragraph, is tucked under the category of 'USOPC Athlete Safety Policy' on the site, and does not include details of how the ban will work. Nor does the new policy include the word 'transgender' or the title of Trump's executive order, 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports', referring to it instead as 'Executive Order 14201'. The committee's new policy means that the national governing bodies of sports federations in the United States now must follow the USOPC's lead, according to several chief executives of sports within the Olympic movement. Those national governing bodies oversee many, but not all, events in Olympic sports for all ages, from youth to masters' competitions. In a letter sent by email to the 'Team USA Community', the committee acknowledged on July 22 that its policy had changed. The letter, from Sarah Hirshland, the USOPC's CEO, and Gene Sykes, the president, said the committee had held 'a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials' since the executive order was signed. 'As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,' the letter said, adding that the committee would work with the national governing bodies to implement the new policy. USA Fencing was among the first of the national governing bodies to post a new policy for transgender athletes. Its new policy will take effect on Aug 1. Those new rules still allow transgender women to compete, but only in the men's category. The rule changes come after the sport was thrust into an uncomfortable spotlight this year when a female fencer declined to compete against her transgender opponent at a midlevel meet. The moment went viral and led to a congressional hearing about transgender women competing in women's sports. 'I'm not going to try to oppose the USOPC because I understand that they've been put in an impossible situation by the administration,' said Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing. 'We essentially have no choice but to change the rules because once the USOPC says, 'This is now the policy of all of our NGBs', we all have to follow it.' Andrews added that it was unclear how the new policy would play out in states such as Minnesota and California, which are defying Mr Trump's ban on transgender women competing in the women's category. How the entire policy will unfold, from sport to sport, and state to state, is uncertain, too. Some sports could add an 'open' category, available to anyone, or a mixed gender category to accommodate the change, Andrews said. The USOPC was spare in its explanation. Its new policy said that it was 'committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport', and that it would work with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the national governing bodies of every Olympic sport 'to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201'. Before the new 'Athlete Safety' policy was posted, the committee had stayed away from taking a bold stance on the issue of transgender women competing in the women's division, trying to carefully navigate the politics of the matter as the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles inched closer. Instead, it had delegated decisions about transgender athlete eligibility to the national governing bodies of each sport. The USOPC has 54 member organizations, according to its website. The IOC, meanwhile, has been struggling for years with the issue of transgender and intersex athletes in sports, coming up with various rules at various times, in an effort to balance fairness with inclusivity. Its current policy allows each international sports federation – World Athletics or the International Cycling Federation, for example – to determine if, and how, transgender athletes can compete in sanctioned events at the international level. But several leaders in the Olympic movement said on July 22 that they were expecting the IOC's rules for transgender athletes to change now that the organization had a new leader, Kirsty Coventry. During her campaign for president, Coventry had pledged to protect women in sports, and that included possibly barring transgender women from competing in the women's category. NYTIMES
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
US bans trans women from competing in women's sports at Olympics
The US has banned biological men from competing in women's sports at the Olympics. The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) changed its eligibility rules on Monday to exclude transgender women from women's events, to comply with an executive order signed by Donald Trump. Governing bodies of American sports federations will now have to follow suit, The New York Times reported. The USOPC said on Tuesday it had 'an obligation to comply with federal expectations' and that it had engaged in a 'series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials' following Mr Trump's executive order. USA Fencing has now adopted a new policy, which comes into effect on Aug 1, that states trans women and non-binary athletes will only be allowed to compete in the men's category. In February, Mr Trump announced his administration would strip federal funding from programmes that required women to compete against biological men in sports, depriving them of 'fair athletic opportunities'. 'In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women's sports,' the executive order reads. 'This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.' A series of female athletes have come forward in recent years to protest against having the choice between competing against biological men or being forced to give up their sport altogether. In May, fencer Stephanie Turner testified before the House of Representatives' Doge subcommittee that she had been forced out of 'the sport I love' by a 'culture of intimidation' towards women. 'I should not have had to make this sacrifice. Women deserve to be treated fairly in sport,' she said. 'We deserve opportunities to train, compete and win in a women's category set aside for women. We deserve this at the lowest levels of sport all the way through elite Olympic competition.' At the same hearing, Damien Lehfeldt, the chairman of USA Fencing, defended his organisation's stance, saying it could not ban transgender participation without a change in policy by bodies that regulate the sport, such as the USOPC. Payton McNabb, a college volleyball player, had her career cut short when a transgender player hit a ball in her face so hard it left her with a brain injury and partial paralysis. Ms McNabb has said she is owed an apology by Joe Biden, Mr Trump's Democrat predecessor, telling The Telegraph: 'With the last administration I feel like we were begging and pleading for someone to listen to us.' Democrats have 'proven over and again that they don't think women are important enough to fight for on this issue', she added. In March, California governor Gavin Newsom broke ranks with many in his party when he said it was 'deeply unfair' to allow biological men to compete in women's sports. Mr Newsom, who has has long been considered a trailblazer on LGBTQ rights, said on his podcast: 'I think it's an issue of fairness… it's deeply unfair. We've got to own that. We've got to acknowledge it.'
Politico
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
US Olympic committee bans transgender athletes after Trump order
Previously each sporting body could set its own policy regarding trans athletes. Trump's February executive order, titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' directed the change, putting the U.S. at odds with World Athletics and the International Olympic Committee, which allow trans athletes to compete under certain medical or eligibility criteria. The USOPC's Athlete Safety Policy, which contains the revised policy, says it will work to 'ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201.' USA Fencing said in a statement on social media it had tweaked its guidelines to comply with the new policy and would implement them as of Aug. 1. 'This update, mandated by the USOPC, aligns our sport with current national standards while keeping community support at the forefront,' the fencing body said in a statement. The USOPC's move reflects the Trump administration's fierce objection to transgender athletes' participation in women's sports, which has become a flashpoint in a Republican culture war. Newly elected IOC president Kirsty Coventry said last month she would launch a working group on the matter, saying there was 'overwhelming support' from member countries to 'protect the female category.'
