Fencer Becomes First Trans Athlete to Sue USOPC For Capitulation To Trump’s Sports Ban
Sports bodies have enacted trans-exclusionary policies, saying they had no choice. Legal scholars have raised doubts about just how “required” these policies really are.
A Maryland fencer has become the first trans person to sue the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) over its anti-trans practices, joining a growing cohort of individuals, cis and trans alike, taking states and sports bodies to court.
Dinah Yukich is a trans fencer who ranks “unclassified”—the lowest tier of competition for the sport. After competing in the men’s category in the early 2000s, she hoped to return to fencing following her medical and legal transition.
According to a complaint filed last week, she was gearing up to compete in a September women’s competition in New York. But then, in August, USA Fencing—the sport’s national governing body, which is chartered under the USOPC—unilaterally changed Dinah’s gender marker from “F” to “M” and blocked her from registering for women’s events. This violates New York’s anti-discrimination laws, the lawsuit contends.
The fencing club overseeing the tournament is based in New Jersey, where the lawsuit was filed.
Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing, declined to comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation. But in a statement to Erin in the Morning, he pointed to the new athlete-eligibility guidance issued by the USOPC after Trump’s anti-trans athlete executive order. The updated guidance no longer contains the organization’s trans-inclusive policies of years past. It has instead been replaced with vague language about compliance with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.
“To apply the policy consistently, we updated the competition-gender field for all transgender members to match their sex assigned at birth,” Andrews said. He added that trans athletes barred from competition were offered suicide prevention resources.
“We recognize the sensitivity of this topic and remain focused on complying with national requirements while supporting every member of our fencing community,” Andrews said.
A spokesperson for USA Fencing added: “As a recognized National Governing Body (NGB), USA Fencing is bound by the USOPC’s policies and compliance requirements under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. When the USOPC updated its athlete-eligibility guidance pursuant to that executive order, all NGBs, including USA Fencing, were required to align their policies accordingly.”
But some legal scholars have raised doubts about just how “required” these policies really are. Trump’s executive order is just that—an executive order, not a law.
“I think one of the key challenges with what the USOPC has put out is the incredible vagueness,” said Brian Dittmeier, the National Women’s Law Center director of LGBTQI+ equality, in a July interview with Erin in the Morning. “The policy change that was enacted simply said that they will comply with both the transphobic executive order and other authorities, including the Ted Stevens Act, and where there are tensions between the two, USOPC did not provide any clarity or direction. That’s incredibly concerning, because to an extent, it gives Donald Trump the ability to rewrite USOPC’s rules for them.”
It’s not the first time USA Fencing has been caught in the crossfire of the anti-trans culture wars. In April, 31-year-old amateur fencer Stephanie Turner made headlines for refusing to face off against a trans woman as her opponent, who was ten years her junior. Turner said it was because she would not fence “a man.” But the week prior, she had entered a co-ed competition without issue. Turner called the tournament and the ensuing media and political fallout “god’s will” for her.
Susie Cirilli, Yukich’s attorney, is also taking on institutions like Swarthmore College, Princeton University, and the NCAA in other cases pertaining to trans athletes. A common throughline in all of them: It seems like blame is a revolving door. Sports bodies point to executive orders, or state laws, or each other, to explain away trans exclusionary policies.
Exaggerated or downright false claims about trans athletes have been weaponized by the far-right as an explicit “beginning point” in order to push the needle to the right on LGBTQ issues. The blame game is also being played by hospitals and health clinics, many of whom are complying in advance with executive orders and withdrawing gender-affirming care from trans people, in spite of anti-discrimination laws that, in theory, compel them to do the opposite.
Yukich’s case is so groundbreaking precisely because it is one of the first cases to pit state law against an executive order when it comes to trans people; the court’s response could forecast how these dynamics will play out in years to come, including in other key policy areas, such as health care and education.
Over a dozen attorneys general—including New York’s and New Jersey’s—have sued the Trump regime over its attacks on health care for trans people. However, directly confronting capitulatory institutions in court—from sports bodies, to schools, to hospitals—has been a relatively underutilized tactic. That’s now starting to change.
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I hope they win, and, that the discovery process reveals much about the "gender critical" ideologues carrying out this would-be-pogrom against us.
The people engineering, funding, and carrying out the propaganda campaign and enacting the laws and policies against transgender people must face 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution.
““To apply the policy consistently, we updated the competition-gender field for all transgender members to match their sex assigned at birth,” Andrews said. He added that trans athletes barred from competition were offered suicide prevention resources.”
gargle my incinerated balls, Pete Andrews.
Like jesus christ what a fucking thing to say. “Oh, we know this will alienate you so badly that you might kill yourself, but we have to be ‘fair’!!!”