It sure looks like more and more women athletes are doing the right thing by refusing to take part in events where they are expected to compete against men. While the Trump administration is using what tools it has available to halt this hideously unfair practice of letting "transgender women," otherwise known as men, compete in women's sports, there is a lot of inexplicable resistance; and the only thing that seems likely to end it for good is for women and girls to refuse to participate.
Case in point: Stephanie Turner, a competitive woman's fencer, recently refused to take part in a bout against a "transgender woman," or, in plain English, a dude.
Women's fencer Stephanie Turner took her mask off and got a knee in front of her transgender opponent.
Ahead of a bout at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland over the weekend, Turner, 31, made the decision not to compete against trans athlete Redmond Sullivan. And Turner also wanted to make sure her refusal was caught on video for the world to see.
Turner came to the decision the night before the event when she checked the competition pools and saw that she would be competing against Sullivan, whom she had read about in an article last year.
"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.
She was right to do so. The bout would have put her instantly at a disadvantage; fencing is a very physical combat sport, and judging from the photo in the article, Stephanie Turner would have been dueling a guy who is visibly larger and more muscular, and who would also certainly have more stamina and a longer reach. This match was rigged against her from the outset, and she was right to refuse.
Former women's tennis star Martina Navratilova took notice and has brought her considerable influence to bear on the matter.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova slammed USA Fencing after a female fencer took a knee when she refused to compete against a transgender athlete at an event over the weekend.
And she wasn't alone:
"This is what happens when female athletes protest! Anyone here still thinks this is fair??? I am fuming… and shame on @USAFencing, shame on you for doing this. How dare you throw women under the gender bulls--- bus!!!" she wrote on X.
Former NCAA fencer Juliana Peceli also weighed in.
"As a retired D1 @NCAA fencer, I was forced to compete against men who claimed to be women. Female athletes dedicate our lives to our sport, only to have men take our spots, our titles, and our future," she wrote on X.
"Kudos to the women who refuse to accept this injustice."
This is, again, the only way this stupidity will be permanently ended. In the short term, it's going to hurt. Some outstanding young women are going to be deprived of trophies, titles, scholarships, and other opportunities that should have, by rights, been theirs. But they are standing up for what's right, and that's important, too.
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USA Fencing, the sport's parent organization, made a pusilanimous statement in reply to Stephanie Turner's refusal.
"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," the statement read.
"We respect the viewpoints on all sides and encourage our members to continue sharing them with us as the matter evolves. It's important for the fencing community to engage in this dialogue, but we expect this conversation to be conducted respectfully, whether at our tournaments or in online spaces. The way to progress is by respectful discussion based in evidence."
There are literally mountains of evidence, not to mention many thousands of years of human history, that tell us men and women are different. A man can identify as a woman, a fish, or the giant blue-white star Vega, and that doesn't make it true. Nobody cares if a man wants to play dress-up and pretend, but when it comes to sports, this practice remains as it would have been 100,000 years ago and still is now - hideously unfair. Allowing Redmond Sullivan - a man - to compete in a combat sport where strength, stamina, speed, and reach are critical against women is an absolute travesty. It flies in the face of the principle of fair competition. And USA Fencing is clearly not interested in "respectful discussion based on evidence," or this never would have been allowed in the first place.
So, kudos to Stephanie Turner. Faced with a difficult choice, she did the right thing, and in refusing to participate, she is standing up for all of her sisters in fencing and women's sports in general. Let her be a courageous example to other young women in similar difficult situations. Bow out. Refuse to participate. That's how this unfair practice will be ended once and for all.
