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USA Gymnastics (USAG) could be the next major American sports governing body to change its policies on allowing trans athletes to compete with women.
The organization provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing why its website pages for its transgender eligibility policies and resources were deleted.
“In May, USAG removed its policy to assess compliance with the current legal landscape,” the statement said.
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 to ban trans athletes from women’s sports, and USA Fencing has already faced federal scrutiny over its rules that let males compete with females.
USAG’s previous policies were highly permissive to biological males who wished to compete in the women’s category.
One of the deleted webpages was a November 2020 announcement stating that the organization would no longer require trans athletes to undergo sex reassignment, legal gender recognition and hormone therapy in order to compete in the gender category of their choosing.
The organization also previously had resources and guidelines for trans athletes on its website, but those pages have also been deleted.
USAG was thrust into the spotlight this past weekend after Olympic legend Simone Biles garnered mass backlash for attacking former NCAA swimmer and conservative influencer Riley Gaines. Biles called Gaines “truly sick” and suggested Gaines is the size of a male after Gaines pointed out that a Minnesota high school whose softball team won a state championship Friday with a transgender pitcher, and that Minnesota’s high school league disabled comments on an X post of the announcement.
Biles has since issued a public apology for her comments against Gaines.
Generally, the American public has become more universally opposed to allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sports over the last year.
A New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democratic, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
FORMER STAR GYMNAST SLAMS USA GYMNASTICS FOR TRANS ATHLETE POLICY HANDLING
Other major Team USA sports governing bodies have quietly amended their transgender policies amid rising opposition to trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports.
USA Track and Field (USATF) official transgender eligibility policy now references the World Athletics guidelines on its official webpage. USATF previously referenced the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s policy, as seen in an archive via Wayback Machine.
The IOC allows biological males to compete in the women’s category, while World Athletics bans any athlete who has undergone male puberty from competing as a woman.
USA Fencing announced in April that it is preparing to change its gender-eligibility policy, after a viral protest by women’s fencer Stephanie Turner sparked mass backlash and federal intervention by protesting a trans opponent.
The organization said it is preparing to amend its current policies that allow biological males to compete with women and girls in the event that it is “forced” to change them.
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From left to right, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee of Team United States celebrate winning the gold medal after the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris. ( Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)
“In the event that USA Fencing is forced to change its current stance in accordance with oversight bodies or federal legislation, the new policy states athletes competing in USA Fencing-sanctioned tournaments must compete according to their biological sex,” the announcement read.
The proposed updated policy ensures that the women’s category “will be open exclusively to athletes of the female sex.” The men’s category “will be open to all other athletes who are otherwise eligible for competition.”
Now, USA Gymnastics is getting in on the wave of changes, as Team USA as a whole could have a very different set of rules in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics compared to years past.
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