House subpoenas fencing official about transgender athletes

The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called USA Fencing board chairman Damien Lehfeldt to testify on Wednesday before a subcommittee on transgender athletes in women's sports. The call to appear came weeks after USA Fencing expelled a female fencer from a competition for refusing to fence with a man who identified himself as female. The committee repeatedly invited Lehfeldt to testify before moving to a formal subpoena, Chairman Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., detailed in the Thursday document. 

What is Lehfeldt going to speak about? The committee expected Lehfeldt to discuss the current, past, and future policies of USA Fencing regarding transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, according to Comer. Congress members specifically wanted to hear about the mission and strategic plan for policies at USA Fencing, the document added. 

What happened last month? USA Fencing disqualified female fencer Stephanie Turner from a March competition for opting out of a fencing match with a man who identified himself as female. Footage in a much-shared video clip showed Turner taking a knee and refusing to fence the man. Turner’s disqualification from the weekend tournament triggered an outpouring of public support on social media.

Didn’t President Donald Trump’s executive order bar men from women’s sports? The president’s executive order protecting women’s sports applied only to federally funded programs, like NCAA member schools. Because USA Fencing is a private nonprofit organization that is not federally funded, it is not legally bound to comply with Trump’s order.

However, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, Marshi Smith, told WORLD that because USA Fencing is part of the Olympic movement, it’s subject to the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. The measure protects women from sex-based discrimination and encourages their participation in sporting events, Smith said in an emailed statement. She argued that USA Fencing’s policy of allowing men in women’s sports discouraged and excluded female participation.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the male fencer no longer being listed on the Wagner College women’s team after the incident.