Stephanie Turner, a female swordsman who kneeled in protest rather than facing her transgender opponent, is away from the sport after American Fencing handed her 12 months of probation for her stance.
Turner was disqualified after the USA Fencing cherry blossoms were held last month after refusing to play Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old male competing in the women’s category.
USA Fencing’s 12-month probation does not ban competition, but Turner says he’ll take a “break from fencing for a while on the US circuit” anyway.
Instead, Turner plans to work to prevent other female athletes from finding themselves in a similar position as themselves by taking part in the fight to keep men out of women’s sports.
“As long as it takes to solve this, I’ll be in the public eye,” she told Fox News.
Turner’s protests led to intense backlash and impacted every aspect of her life.
As she told Fox News, her response to the protests “disturbed my training and confused my interactions when I went out in public.
She said, “I know some of the negative comments my friends had, so I keep in mind that I will give them plenty of space, but I think I believe this policy and this ideology will be unsustainable in the future.
Turner will be allowed to take part in that fight on May 7th to deal with USA fencing. The House Oversight Committee on the Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has invited him to testify alongside Damien Lehfeldt, chairman of the U.S. Fencing board and defending men’s competition in women’s sports.
The hearing occurs amid the U.S. Department of Education’s investigation into US fencing and whether it violated President Trump’s executive order entitled “Exclude men from women’s sports.” In that order, Title IX was interpreted as prohibiting the inclusion of men in women’s sports.
Trump’s executive order overturned a Biden-era interpretation of Title IX, which allows people identifying as transgender to compete in women’s track and field.
“US Fencing adopted the current trans-inclusion policy in 2023.” New York Post Report.
