USA Fencer Disqualified For Refusing To Compete Against Trans Athlete
USA fencer Stephanie Turner received a black card and was escorted from the tournament.
During a fencing tournament at the University of Maryland, USA fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee on the mat, refusing to play against her transgender opponent, Redmond Sullivan. Turner’s refusal to compete resulted in a black card and subsequent disqualification from the Cherry Blossom tournament.
“I saw that I was going to be in a pool with Redmond, and from there I said, ‘OK, let’s do it. I’m going to take the knee,” Turner told Fox News Digital. “I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women’s objections.”
“So when I took the knee, I looked at the ref and I said: ‘I’m sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women’s tournament. And I will not fence this individual,” Turner said, according to Daily Mail.
USA Fencing responded to Turner’s transphobic decision in a statement to Fox. “USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and non-binary athlete policy in 2023. The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces. The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day.”
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Turner said she knew she would receive a black card for taking a knee, but did it anyway. She was escorted out of the tournament and told Fox that she has not heard anything from the organization since. A USA Fencing spokesperson said Turner was not penalized for her stance against trans inclusion in sports, but for her decision to not fence during the tournament.
“In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to any personal statement but was merely the result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE [International Fencing Federation] rules clearly prohibit.”
Turner reported to Fox that she was a lifelong Democrat, but has since become a Republican following the idea that biological males can compete in women’s sports. She said she identifies as a “new republican conservative”
“I voted red down the ticket this year … it was like waking up to the lies of the mainstream media… just to watch so many of my friends have this glassy-eyed look while just defending this policy because their brains can not manage the possibility that their party of position has been wrong on this, and perhaps this isn’t a civil rights movement, and they have been misled,” Turner said regarding transgender women competing in women’s sports.
