Women's fencer opens up on refusing to face transgender opponent, accepting punishment and backlash

Women's fencer Stephanie Turner took her disguise disconnected and got a genu successful beforehand of her transgender opponent.

Ahead of a bout astatine the Cherry Blossom Open successful Maryland implicit the weekend, Turner, 31, made the determination not to vie against trans jock Redmond Sullivan. And Turner besides wanted to marque definite her refusal was caught connected video for the satellite to see. 

Turner came to the determination the nighttime earlier the lawsuit erstwhile she checked the contention pools and saw that she would beryllium competing against Redmond, whom she had work astir successful an nonfiction past year. 

"I saw that I was going to beryllium successful a excavation with Redmond, and from determination I said, ‘OK, let’s bash it. I'm going to instrumentality the knee,'" Turner told Fox News Digital.

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Fencer Stephanie Sullivan kneels successful beforehand of a USA Fencing official (Courtesy of ICONS)

Turner went done each her warm-ups that time and went connected to obstruction successful 4 bouts earlier her matchup with the trans athlete. When it came, she was "nervous and shaky," but was definite astir her decision. 

"I knew what I had to bash due to the fact that USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections regarding [its sex eligibility policy]," Turner said. 

"I took a genu instantly astatine that point. Redmond was nether the content that I was going to commencement fencing. So erstwhile I took the knee, I looked astatine the ref and I said, ‘I’m sorry, I cannot bash this. I americium a woman, and this is simply a man, and this is simply a women's tournament. And I volition not obstruction this individual.'

"Redmond didn't perceive me, and helium comes up to me, and helium thinks that I whitethorn beryllium hurt, oregon helium doesn't recognize what's happening. He asks, ‘Are you OK?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry. I person overmuch emotion and respect for you, but I volition not obstruction you."

And close aft that, Turner's punishment by USA Fencing commenced.

"Redmond says to me, ‘Well you know, determination is simply a subordinate connected the committee of directors present who supports me, and determination is simply a argumentation that acknowledges maine arsenic a woman, truthful I americium allowed to fence, and you volition get blackcarded,’ and I said, 'I know," Turner said. 

Minutes later, the referees dealt Turner a achromatic card, which represents the astir terrible penalty, starring to expulsion from the tourney oregon lawsuit for superior regularisation infractions oregon unsportsmanlike behavior.

Turner said she was past escorted to the bout committee wherever she had to explicate what she did. She says the members past handed her a transcript of the association's transgender argumentation and made her motion a papers acknowledging the achromatic card. Turner said she signed the papers nether objection. 

Then, Turner was escorted retired of the venue, she said.

Women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneels successful protestation successful beforehand of transgender jock Redmond Sullivan (Courtesy of ICONS)

USA Fencing provided a connection to Fox News Digital addressing the incident. 

"USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and non-binary jock policy in 2023. The argumentation was designed to grow entree to the athletics of fencing and make inclusive, harmless spaces. The argumentation is based connected the rule that everyone should person the quality to enactment successful sports and was based upon the probe disposable of the day," the connection read.

"We respect the viewpoints connected each sides and promote our members to proceed sharing them with america arsenic the substance evolves. It's important for the fencing assemblage to prosecute successful this dialogue, but we expect this speech to beryllium conducted respectfully, whether astatine our tournaments oregon successful online spaces. The mode to advancement is by respectful treatment based successful evidence." 

A USA Fencing spokesperson besides told Fox News Digital that Turner was not penalized for her stance against trans inclusion, but simply for refusing to fence. 

"In the lawsuit of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to immoderate idiosyncratic connection but was simply the nonstop effect of her determination to diminution to obstruction an eligible opponent, which the FIE rules intelligibly prohibit," the spokesperson said.

"According to the FIE (International Fencing Federation) Technical Rules, specifically Article t.113, a fencer is not permitted to garbage to obstruction different decently entered fencer for immoderate reason. Under these rules, specified a refusal results successful disqualification and the corresponding sanctions. This argumentation exists to support just contention standards and sphere the sport’s integrity." 

Fencer Stephanie Sullivan kneels successful beforehand of a USA Fencing official (Courtesy of ICONS)

Turner said she has not heard thing backmost from the enactment since the incident. 

It was an incidental she had actively tried to debar astatine anterior events. Turner said she antecedently refused to participate aggregate past fencing events that included different transgender fencers that she knew about. It's an contented that she made an effort to enactment connected apical of for her ain consciousness and safety.

"In erstwhile years erstwhile I had known astir transgender fencers being present, I conscionable wouldn't register, but for this one, Redmond indispensable person signed up aft me," Turner said. 

"I was like, ‘You cognize what, I’m conscionable going to springiness it to God. If this idiosyncratic shows up to my lawsuit and is connected my script, past I would instrumentality a knee, and that would beryllium God's will.'"

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It was not a determination she came to lightly, however. 

Redmond paid adjacent attraction to the "protect women's sports" question that has emerged successful caller years, and the backlash and harassment faced by the women who took portion successful it. She recalled the communicative of Riley Gaines being held hostage and assaulted astatine San Francisco State University successful April 2023. 

The thought of the backlash haunted Turner, but wasn't capable to halt her from taking the knee.

"It volition probably, astatine slightest for a moment, destruct my life. I don't deliberation that it's going to beryllium casual for maine from present connected going to fencing tournaments. I don't deliberation it's going to beryllium casual for maine astatine practice," Turner said. "It's precise hard for maine to bash this." 

For Turner, 1 of the sacrifices she is astir acrophobic astir is impeding the friendships she has with radical successful the LGBT community, who she said don't presently cognize astir her stance connected the issue. 

As a lifelong Democrat, Turner insists she ne'er opposed LGBTQ people. But the contented of trans inclusion of women's sports has driven her distant from supporting the party, and she present identifies arsenic a "new Republican conservative."

"I voted reddish down the summons this year," Turner said. "It was similar waking up to the lies of the mainstream media… Just to ticker truthful galore of my friends person this glassy-eyed look portion conscionable defending this argumentation due to the fact that their brains tin not negociate the anticipation that their enactment oregon their presumption has been incorrect connected this, and possibly this isn't a civilian rights movement, and they person been misled."

Turner added that she afloat supports President Donald Trump cutting backing to states that let trans athletes to vie successful women's and girls sports. 

"Something needs to beryllium done, and determination are activists who person embedded themselves successful authoritative positions successful sports bodies."

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