Female fencer refuses to compete against male athlete

A female fencer who refused to compete against a male athlete was disqualified from a competition under USA Fencing.

Stephanie Turner of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia was set to take on a male athlete, Wagner College’s Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom, a fencing event held at the University of Maryland.

As the match began, however, Turner refused to participate against the male and took a knee in protest.

An official immediately approached Turner and eventually gave the fencer a black card, a penalty typically issued for egregious behavior that can result in the expulsion from a competition.

“I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women’s objections,” Turner told Fox News about the ordeal. “I took a knee immediately,” she continued.

“Redmond was under the impression that I was going to start fencing. 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.'”

According to Turner, Sullivan approached her and asked if she was OK. When Turner explained she did not want to compete against a man, Sullivan said that he was supported by board members and is allowed to fence against women.

“Redmond says to me, ‘Well you know, there is a member on the board of directors here who supports me, and there is a policy that acknowledges me as a woman, so I am allowed to fence, and you will get black-carded,’ and I said, ‘I know,'” Turner recalled.

Video of the event showed Sullivan seemingly confused by Turner’s response before walking away.

Turner was expelled from the event over her refusal to fence, according to a USA Fencing spokesperson.

“In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to any personal statement but was merely the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE [International Fencing Federation] rules clearly prohibit.”

Turner’s participation was erased from the event results and does not appear as one of Sullivan’s opponents.

‘I’m just going to give it to God.’

Sullivan began competing in the women’s category in the 2024-2025 season after competing in the men’s category from 2021-2023. Against men, Sullivan’s best finish was third place at a May 2023 event. Against women, however, Sullivan already has two gold medals in just six competitions.

Turner revealed that she typically does not register for events with “transgender fencers” and figured Sullivan had signed up after her for the latest event.

“I was like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to give it to God. If this person shows up to my event and is on my script, then I would take a knee, and that would be God’s will,'” Turner explained.

“It will probably, at least for a moment, destroy my life. I don’t think that it’s going to be easy for me from now on going to fencing tournaments. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for me at practice,” Turner added.

The fencer even said she has begun to vote “red down the ticket” after “waking up to the lies of the mainstream media.”

Turner explained that many of her friends have displayed a “glassy-eyed look” while trying to defend the idea of men in women’s sports and have yet to come to terms with the reality that their position on the issue may be wrong. She added that some of her colleagues may have realized they were misled on the idea that men in women’s sports is a “civil rights movement.”

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