A female fencer who was disqualified from a tournament for refusing to fight a trans opponent ripped into the culture of the sport that has made her fear similar situations for several years.

Stephanie Turner’s viral protest at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland garnered her a platform to showcase the “unfair” situations she faced if she refused to compete against other transgender athletes.

The 31-year-old kneeled on the fencing strip, or piste, before she ever launched an attack against Redmond Sullivan during their bout at the University of Maryland in College Park on March 30.

Stephanie Turner kneels during her bout against Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland on March 30, 2025.X / @icons_women
Turner claimed she usually doesn’t sign up for events where she knows there’s a chance of going up against a transgender opponent, but did so this time as a form of protest.

“So what I was doing already was just avoiding tournaments where I knew there was a transgender fencer. But at this point, what else should I do? Should I just not sign up for any tournaments? I have no other options,” Turner told the Daily Mail.

Turner, who competes out of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, has stopped herself from raising her concerns to USA Fencing officials out of fear they would personally disagree with her and ruin her career.

“I was like, I don’t even want to reach out because if I do, then I won’t ever have a fair bout in my life,” Turner said.

She revealed the inside nature of the fencing world, where many members don’t share her views on female sports.

“There are a lot of people who are for this [trans athletes in women’s sports] who are referees. I would lose favor within the sight of referees and I could end up with a biased bout. I could lose friends who I don’t know what their position is on this,” she added.

Turner, who competes out of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, has stopped herself from raising her concerns to USA Fencing officials out of fear they would personally disagree with her and ruin her career.X / @icons_women

Turner’s protest at the Cherry Blossom Open earned her a black card, the sport’s highest form of penalty – an automatic expulsion from the tournament.X / @icons_women
Turner’s protest at the Cherry Blossom Open earned her a black card, the sport’s highest form of penalty — an automatic expulsion from the tournament.

The black card was attributed to her refusal to compete against Sullivan, an eligible opponent adhering to the International Fencing Federation (FIE) rules, according to the organization.

“In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification, which applies to this tournament only, 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 rules clearly prohibit,” USA Fencing said in a statement.

Turner during an interview with Fox News after her protest went viral.Fox News

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Redmond Sullivan is a sophomore athlete on the Wagner College women’s fencing team.Madison Public Schools
“USA Fencing is obligated to follow the letter of those rules and ensure that participants respect the standards set at the international level.”

“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,’” Turner recalled to Fox News.

Sullivan, who uses she/her pronouns, competes on the Wagner College women’s fencing team on Staten Island.

The 20-year-old Connecticut native was concerned about Turner not immediately understanding what was happening.

“Redmond didn’t hear me, and he comes up to me, and he thinks that I may be hurt, or he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He asks, ‘Are you OK?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry. I have much love and respect for you, but I will not fence you,’” Turner said, without using her would-be opponent’s preferred pronouns.

The tournament was not an NCAA- or school-sanctioned event.

USA Fencing regulations allow transgender athletes to compete in events against the “gender opposite of the gender associated with the sex assigned at birth.”

Transgender female athletes can only compete in female events after completing one year of testosterone suppression treatment, along with proof of compliant hormone therapy.

Sullivan placed 24 at the March 30 event.
Turner, a longtime Democrat, says she voted for former President Donald Trump in November’s election because of his campaign promise to ban transgender athletes in women’s sports.

She called out the party for its “radical” viewpoints.

“This movement shouldn’t be political, but I do find there is one party that has been totally captured by radical politics, radical social politics that have acted as sort of a litmus test to let me know whether a politician is willing to lie just to advance their own political career,” Turner told the outlet.

Turner, a longtime Democrat, says she voted for former President Donald Trump in November’s election because of his campaign promise to ban transgender athletes in women’s sports.Courtesy of Sophie Turner
“That just opened the door for me to start listening more to the other side, really. Because if you’re willing to lie to me and tell me that a man can become a woman, then I wonder what else could you be lying to me about?”

With Post wires