US Fencing. Woman Disqualified for Refusing to Fence Against Trans Fencer

[Arran2024]

Apparently the trans woman fenced previously for the men's team then switched https://x.com/icons_women/status/1907487751664247154

"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."

Interesting to see that she is using (perhaps Christian) language here in not condemning him personally, but that she is using male pronouns. Very powerful as it makes her stance harder to criticise.

I’ve been thinking recently about how to tackle a situation where I might run into some transactivists (going to a women’s conference) and it seems to me that there is power in capturing unreasonable reactions to demonstrably reasonable behaviour. It’s a great film, though a pity it doesn’t catch what she said.

He can't control what individual bodies or organisations decide to do, though......and many are rebelling against or actively opposing his edicts.

"As a lifelong Democrat, Turner insists she never opposed LGBTQ people. But the issue of trans inclusion of women's sports has driven her away from supporting the party, and she now identifies as a "new Republican conservative."

"I voted red down the ticket this year," Turner said. "It was like waking up to the lies of the mainstream media… Just to watch so many of my friends have this glassy-eyed look while just defending this policy because their brains can not manage the possibility that their party or their position has been wrong on this, and perhaps this isn't a civil rights movement, and they have been misled."

"Something needs to be done, and there are activists who have embedded themselves in authoritative positions in sports bodies."

I thought that was interesting about the glassy-eyed look as well, Shortshrift.

Also that the man’s response was that someone on the board would support him. He has been reassured that the women will not get him out and will be punished if they step out of line.

If you watch the video, his reaction to her taking the knee is something that no woman I know would do - pure male entitlement, he thought he could browbeat her into changing her mind.

Most women wouldn't deliberately cheat and deprive other women of fair competition. Of those that do, when getting confronted with their cheating would be unlikely to directly confront someone who'd called it out.

Of course he knows he's bigger and stronger because he's male so there's no disadvantage to using that male bodied advantage to try and bully a woman into compliance.

I'd recommend everyone watch that video because it shows how very brave Stephanie was in the face of what really is just male supremacism.

I note none of the officials stepped in to stop what very much looked like bullying to me.

Well done Stephanie Turner.

Good for her. Men don't get to decide what women perceive, especially when it's material reality. He's got a male body, and it's not fair if he's competing.

Feeling very depressed by all the news headlines which are ALL as far as I can see 'woman fencer refuses to play trans opponent' NO she refuses to play a male bodied opponent. Presumably she'd be fine to play against a female bodied trans opponent as long as she wasn't doping (i.e taking testosterone). It's not about trans, it's about men.

At best, it was very very inappropriate that he confronted her directly as he did.

And fucking massive hairy bollocks to him saying 'are you ok' it was obvious she wasn't injured, she took the knee ffs. More manipulation.

These men have - at best - been gaslit into believing they have the absolute right to use women's bodies for their own ends and have the right to determine women's very perceptions about the world.

He is a serial cheater, sounds seriously mentally ill, living in fantasy land, with all the handmaidens et al cheering him on & affirming him & his bravery. 🤢 🤢 🤢 what’s happened to Trumps Promise? Where are the news headlines? Finding it difficult to believe this will ever end more likely will get much worse. So sad

FYI I just listened to HJ from last Genspec, gave great advice on how to talk/be open with people who are “woke” TRAs last few mins of speech worth a watch on YouTube I need to watch again myself!

Yup. I noticed that part, too.

Yank here. That's a fair reading of the situation, but the University of Maryland benefits from Federal funding in that many if not most of the students attending get Federal student loans to pay tuition and fees. Those can be blocked for a Title IX violation.

It's a very big stick to beat them with and only a handful of colleges and universities in the US forego Federal student loans.

Edited to add that It's incomprehensible to me that a second or third tier uni like U of Maryland is testing the waters like this while Trump goes after Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard for other Title IX and Title XI violations. U Penn has had $175m in Federal funding frozen for letting a trans woman onto their women's swimming team. U of Maryland is begging for a beat down on this.

This one?

Thank you for finding that, Flowchart, seems to be the right one xx

Thanks for sharing the comment, I'm going to stealing that in future, it really sums it all up. 🤬

This was shared on Facebook as being the content of the conversation - obvs can't guarantee its accuracy.

In case the image doesn't post, this is the text:

Redmond Sullivan (standing over Stephanie): “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.”

Stephanie Turner (kneeling): “I know”

Yes. This a quote from the interview Stephanie gave.

@Wishitsnows i read in the paper she was disqualified for refusing to play against the trans person.... sorry if I used the wrong pronouns 😳

This has Turner's interview comments and some more details about USAF's response.

Women's fencer opens up on refusing to face transgender opponent, accepting punishment and backlash

This is getting enough attention in the media to warrant some government attention to both USAF and the university. Let's hope so. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

https://archive.md/3Jlgt

Damien Lehfeldt is the Director of
@USAFencing
He wrote a now deleted blog backing men in women’s fencing Thankfully someone archived it He believes giving cross dressing men a ‘will to live’ matters more than women’s medals

More than his daughter's chances of winning even

Quite surprised to see this relatively even-handed article on BBC website -

https://www.bbc.com/sport/fencing/articles/cpdzv76gl49o

Lots of publicity for this. They really want to die on this hill.

A lot of Dem politicians are doubling down on ending women's sports. Going to be interesting how that plays out in elections.

The article from the BBC is good because Stephanie Turner gave an incredibly clear account of why she refused to fence and the BBC actually quoted it.

Their own words still waffle around “transgender opponent” as if it’s the fact that the man is transgender that is the important factor and not the fact that he is male. That said, “transgender opponent” is an improvement on “transgender woman” so that’s an advance!

“Responding to Turner's disqualification on 30 March, USA Fencing said: "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.”

“Please, please,” says USA fencing, “don’t mention what she said. That had nothing to do with her disqualification and it’s important nobody should be told what she said…”

The photo of him towering over the young women illustrates the issue perfectly 🤬

I am so sad to see another woman having to lose out because of such a clearly unfair situation. Good for her. I hope that this brings about a rapid change in policy.