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

Article in The Telegraph:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2025/04/06/transgender-row-fencer-stephanie-turner-interview/

And earlier comment from Martina Navratilova:
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tennis-legend-martina-navratilova-fuming-after-female-fencer-punished-refusing-take-trans-athlete

14. Women have all the rights they need: The right to remain silent.

US Fencing, quoted in the Navratilova article, state that their trans policy is to widen inclusion and participation in the sport. Which is a noble thought, but surely if someone is keen to fence but is also desperate to transition they could still be easily accommodated as a fencer ( or indeed any other form of sport) under their sex category without losing face or respect - if that was written into the gender constitution of the sport and understood by everyone.

Makes you think that for Redmond the need to fence as a woman but possibly be beaten by other men who were better fencers was not as strong as the need to fence as a woman and be a winner against competitors physically disadvantaged by their sex.

Just throwing that out as a random thought, because of course for any serious sportsperson the sport comes first……

Are they counting how many women self exclude and no longer even attempt to participate in that sport, when they 'widen inclusion'?

It's such bollocks. Invisible women can't be counted.

There is also the advantage that invisible women can’t be heard, and can’t be seen to be protesting either! Win, win, win for the sport.

This is true.

A woman not making a public stand can be said to be supporting the policy. How many times have we seen just that?

Like the man this week in the UCU tribunal. No one has raised their feelings of not being safe for not agreeing with Uni and union policies… because women haven’t felt safe to make a stand they haven’t.

I suspect though that some posters tend to not understand that their posts are misogynistic, or maybe don’t care (or do know but that is a whole other discussion).

Apparently this featured on John Oliver’s show overnight.

https://x.com/blueatlgeorgia/status/1909113171782017451?s=46

Apparently, he spent considerable time discussing male inclusion in female sport while hypocritically derisorily accusing Fox News for highlighting Stephanie Turner’s fencing protest in the light of the stock market responding to Trump.

I wonder if there will be a transcript released. It is rather interesting as an aside that the production team reached out to WoLF about the issue and it turns out that D (Dee) Brent is a male fact checker on the team. And Brent claims to be a woman. And was fact checking for this segment.

https://womensliberationfront.org/news/last-week-tonight-contacts-wolf-seeking-comment-on-womens-sports

Reem Alsalem sent them this: https://x.com/UNSRVAW/status/1908442325107286108?t=DWy2lBDOD3jyufzN68v8gg&s=19

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2025/04/06/transgender-row-fencer-stephanie-turner-interview/

Sorry, can't archive it. She says she protested in the way she did specofocally to get a black card- because that triggers an investigation.

I am quietly putting the phrase “mental pretzel” in my toolbox.

Great response to a seemingly innocent but goady request for “information” - otherwise known as ammunition.

That is a fabulous letter. ❤to Reem.

Not sure if this link will work. There’s a photo of the elegantly gowned Dee, and a well worded tweet from JKR , from 2024, about John Oliver

I watched most of the long segment. Oliver used most of the weak and false fallacies. From memory he used:

the Phelps argument
the ‘they are not ‘cancelled’ look at them now’ argument
the ‘mustn’t be too permanently injured they went on to win at another sport argument (despicable when you see this argument)
the case by case argument
the ‘it’s complicated’ argument
the ‘they just want to play/with their friends’ argument
the ‘they are children’ argument
the ‘but some female athletes are happy with including male people’ argument
the ‘the team wasn’t that good anyway’ argument
the ‘look at who is saying it’ argument
the ‘they don’t transition to win at sports’ argument
the ‘it’s a hard life’ argument
the sore loser argument
the not many argument featured
the female athletes are still winning
the ‘not all’ argument
the ‘it is cruel’ argument

And I only got two thirds through.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trans-female-fencer-no-longer-college-team-amid-latest-controversy

It seems that the trans player is no longer in the college women’s team.

Good news

Good stuff.👏👏👏

USA Fencing are doubling down though, so half a victory maybe.

It looks like it's his team that is doubling down. I think US fencing have changed their policies.

Stephanie has received an award from an organisation called XX-XY Athletics, which was founded to defend women’s sport.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5310711-award-for-fencer-who-refused-to-compete-against-transwoman

I was going by what I read in the link

"USA Fencing remains committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful community for everyone in our sport. We believe in the principle of creating a safe communities where all athletes, and community members, have a place," the statement read.

US Fencing’s new policy. From 1st August. At last.

https://www.usafencing.org/transgender-and-nonbinary-policy

“Event Categories
USA Fencing sanctioned events that are not gender-mixed will offer two categories - Women’s and Men’s event categories. The following guidelines should be applied to each category.

Women’s category: Athletes who are of the female sex, provided all other entry criteria have been met

Men’s category: Open to all athletes not eligible for the Women’s Category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes, and cisgender male athletes, provided that all other entry criteria have been met.”

The female people who identify as non-binary or as transmen (who have not taken cross-sex hormones) would be better off competing as their sex and not as their 'identity' under that policy.

Not its not - they may train together and fence each other at club sessions in smaller clubs but it is often the case that the men have to pull their punches a bit. There are rules about not hitting too hard but if you get into eg sabre the men can do quite a bit of damage even when they're trying to be gentle.

The good news just keeps on coming😀

And hopefully all sports will follow suit