NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
The Board of Directors of USA Fencing voted to modify its current policy which prioritized states with user -friendly LGBTQ laws for host sites for competitions and a policy that prevented the game of the national anthem during certain events.
The decision comes after months of criticism for punishing a woman from a screen who refused to close a trans opponent, who included the control of the federal legislators during a hearing in the congress in early May.
The changes were voted in force at a meeting of the board of directors on Saturday.
An official announcement indicates that fencing in the United States “has adopted a rationalized policy which applies priority criteria to cost, security and convenience to each national offer of events in the 50 states”. The new policy “guarantees that host cities meet strict members’ safety and efficiency standards”.
CLICK HERE for more sports cover on Foxnews.com
The representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) holds cards from the United States in front of an alleged screenshot of the Instagram of the director of the United States, Damien Lehfeldt, during the audience on “Play disloyal: keep men out of female sports” owned by the Department of US Capitol Sub-Comitol on May 7, 2025 Washington, DC, DC
Meanwhile, the new national hymn policy of the Board of Directors will come into force in summer nationals 2025 and will be examined each year by the tournament committee.
“On the recommendation of the tournament committee, the board of directors has adopted a uniform national hymn policy governing all the national closing events of the United States,” said the announcement, adding that the new policy “will provide consistent and respectful minimum directives to honor the flag and anthem in nine annual tournaments”.
In December, the board of directors held a vote to play the national anthem at the start of the tournaments before “all the CNA and national championships”, but it was voted against 8-2 with an abstention.
The previous policy of the host site, which was announced in November 2022, gave preference during the selection of host cities of national tournaments to the laws without laws which “harm members of LGBTQ communities” and to states which do not have “laws undermining the reproductive health of women”.
This policy came into force during the 2023 season, the same year, it changed its gender policy. He then released a states list that he intended to “avoid as much as possible” and the states that he would not allow major events to be organized.
The States on the “Do not auther” list were Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
States on its list “avoid as much as possible” included Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, Dakota of the North, Ohio, Utah, Virginia-Western, Wyoming, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana Kentucky, South, Mississippi, Missouri, Dakota of the North, Oklahoma, South, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South, Mississippi, Missouri, Dakota of the North, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginie-Western.
The previous policy has become one of the biggest criticism of the organization after the Escorer Stephanie Turner ignited the world’s counterpouil against the organization when she recorded a video of her centenette to protest against a trans opponent during a competition in Maryland at the end of March.
USA gymnastics Evaluate the transgender inclusion policy
The images have become viral among the news that Turner was disqualified from the event and treated a black card for refusing to close.
The controversy was then the subject of a federal hearing on May 7. Government Department of Effectiveness (DOGE) “Unfinmerical Play of the subcommittee: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” saw Turner testify against the president of the American fencing Damien Lehfeldt.
Lehfeldt has caused severe criticism from republican legislators for transgender inclusion policies of the host organization and selection.
The president of the subcommittee of Doge, Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA., Called the organization for its host policy of the city.
“By selecting sites for its national fencing events, for example, the policy of the board of directors is to avoid states whose laws and policies on LGBTQ rights and the abortion it is opposed. He uses” equality cards “to determine what states of the black list of his competitions and of which to favor,” said Greene.
“This ends up promoting many blue states and harming many reds. So it creates politically determined winners and losers – but that has absolutely nothing to do with fencing. And it contradicts the closing of fencing as NGB to” develop the interest and participation of the United States at the closure “.
USA Fencing also announced that it was preparing to modify its current policy which allows trans athletes to participate in the female category in April.
“In the event that the United States’s closure is forced to modify its current position in accordance with supervisory organizations or federal legislation, the new policy declares that athletes in competition in the fencing tournaments of American fences must compete according to their biological sex,” said the announcement.
The proposed update policy ensures that the female category “will be open exclusively to female athletes”. The male category “will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition”.
