Rep Brandon Gill grills USA fencing chief over trans inclusion in women's competitions

During a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee on Oversight and Government Reform about biological males playing in women’s sports, Damien Lehfeldt, the head of the board of USA Fencing, was grilled over a social media post in which he called concerned parents of female athletes "whiny."

"Do you think that parents who don’t want their daughters competing against men in women’s sports are whiny?" Rep Brandon Gill asked. Lehfeldt replied, "No sir."

"You don’t? Why did you write that on social media? I’ve got a picture here where you posted that. You were allegedly responding to a parent who didn’t want their daughter being beaten up by men in sports competitions. You said, 'I’m not going to pull her from the sport and write a whiny email announcing my departure,'" said Gill.

Lehfeldt said that it was "an inappropriate message." He later added, "I regret it, sir. I deleted it shortly after posting, and I certainly don’t feel that way anymore."

Gill pressed, "Do you think that parents who don’t want their daughters competing against men in sports should be compared to the Ku Klux Klan?"

"No, absolutely not," Lehfeldt said. When asked he did he said, "That was inappropriate."

Gill went on to read out the message from Lehfeldt, which was allegedly in response to a woman who expressed concerns about biological males in women’s sports. "The only wizard that’s going to dig you out of the myopic hole you put yourself and your family in is one of the 'Grand Wizard' variety."

Lehfeldt responded, "I acknowledge that I said it, and I will commit to never making a message like that again."

Lehfeldt's appearance at the hearing came after a female fencer, Stephanie Turner, took a knee against a trans-identified male opponent in a spring competition, resulting in her being given a black card and kicked out.

The female fencer spoke out at the hearing, telling lawmakers that she has spent "7,000 hours training and over $100,000 in expenses" in her fencing career and that she felt "isolated and strangled" by the organization, per Outkick.