Female fencer who took a knee rather than face trans athlete recalls betrayal by sports boss: Sold a lie

A female fencer who was disqualified from a tournament after refusing to compete against a transgender opponent told members of Congress Wednesday she “felt betrayed” by the sport’s governing body, who she said had “defrauded” her and “sold a lie.”Stephanie Turner, 31, took a knee instead of fencing against Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old who was born biologically male, at USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland on March 30.In addition to forfeiting the match, Turner was hit with a 12-month probation period, causing her to step away from the sport.The night before the scheduled match against Sullivan, Turner recalled to the House DOGE subcommittee, “I cried the whole night and again felt betrayed by USA Fencing.”“I had already spent the money on competition fees and new equipment, and spent hours training and refurbishing my equipment,” she explained.“I felt trapped.

I had been defrauded of a women’s tournament and sold a lie by USA Fencing.”“I had felt so isolated and strangled by USA Fencing for disagreeing with this transgender policy that I felt scared to speak openly, online, or with friends in the fencing community.”USA Fencing Chair Damien Lehfeldt, who claimed in an August 2023 blog post that “transgender women are women and gender is not sex” said that he hopes Turner reconsiders her time away from fencing — but declined to apologize when prompted by Rep.Nancy Mace (R-SC).“Miss Turner … remains free to enter tournaments and free to compete,” he said.Lehfeldt also argued that concerns over transgender athletes in fencing are moot because USA Fencing also puts on mixed gender competitions — even though the event in which Turner and Sullivan were matched was specifically for women and not mixed-gender.Turner accused USA Fencing of being “unbelievably demeaning” by attributing female losses to transgender competitors to a “skill issue.”“Within the USA Fencing authoritative body, there is a cu...