USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt two years ago published a lengthy pro-transgender manifesto, which was flagged by a source to The Daily Wire following the athletic organization’s decision to disqualify a female fencer from a tournament for refusing to compete against a transgender-identifying male opponent.
Lehfeldt, who calls himself “the fencing coach,” published a lengthy blog post on August 30, 2023, outlining why he wants male transgender-identifying athletes to compete against females.
Screenshot: TheFencingCoach.com
The post claims that “transgender women are women” and that “no” athlete “transitions with the intention of gaining a physical advantage over their cisgender peers.”
Lehfeldt also explains that if his daughter has to one day fence against a male who claims to be female, he would hope his daughter “doesn’t care about the outcome and that both she and her opponent simply enjoyed the bout.”
At the outset of the blog, Lehfeldt outlined his “beliefs” about the issue:
- Transgender women are women and gender is not sex.
- 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 [of] those IOC guidelines might be imperfect.
- A separate division denies them their truth to compete as their authentic selves and is antithetical to USA Fencing’s Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) vision.
- 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.
- Giving athletes a sense of belonging and a will to live is more powerful than medals and competitive glory.
Screenshot: TheFencingCoach.com
Lehfeldt then discussed how someone he knew “transitioned” from male to female and became “her authentic self.”
“She wasn’t a boy afraid of his own shadow anymore, but a confident, strong young woman who suddenly was who she was always meant to be. She was her authentic self,” he wrote. “The moment he became Rhonda, the lie was gone and she was…happy.”
Citing a research article, Lehfeldt claimed that allowing males in girls’ sports “can be lifesaving.”
“Despite these benefits, 22 state legislatures have banned transgender participation in sport and sought to bar these at-risk youths from the field of play,” he wrote, adding with emphasis, “And to me, such bans are just as insidious as bans of cisgender women.”
“I’ll be the first to admit that maybe ten years ago, I didn’t understand this topic,” the post continued. “I would have told you that gender was binary. I would have said: you’re born a man or a woman and your sex at birth is what you are. The science on the topic has evolved, and the science on the topic is still evolving.”
Lehfeldt admitted that male athletes “may” have a physical advantage over females, even post-“transition,” but dismissed concerns about fairness.
“The first principle of trans participation one must accept, is that no one transitions with the intention of gaining a physical advantage over their cisgender peers,” Lehfeldt wrote (emphasis his own).
Screenshot: TheFencingCoach.com
“One day, my daughter may compete against a transgender woman,” he said. “She might win. She might lose. I hope I’ve done a good enough job articulating the depth of the issue, that she doesn’t care about the outcome and that both she and her opponent simply enjoyed the bout.”
“I hope she understands that the young lady she competed with might not be with us in this world if she was forced to live a lie in a gender she didn’t identify with,” Lehfeldt added. “And I hope, by the time my daughter is old enough to compete, this topic won’t be as faux-pas and divisive as it is in the present.”
Screenshot: TheFencingCoach.com
Related: VIDEO: Female Fencer Booted From Tournament After Refusing To Compete Against Male Opponent