Exclusive | Fencer who dropped out of competition rather than face trans athlete ‘very angry we’re going along with somebody’s fantasy’

Competitive fencer Stephanie Turner — who chose to be disqualified from a tournament rather than battle a transgender athlete — said she might not have gotten into the sport had she known this could happen.

“When I first started this was unfathomable,” she told The Post of competing against trans opponents. “I did this for my own physical safety, because this is a combat sport — and, in competition setting, men do fence a lot harder than women and I don’t want to get hurt.

“It makes me very angry to see that we’re going along with somebody else’s fantasy.”

A video of the March 30th incident, showing Turner taking a knee during the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland, quickly went viral online.

She also expressed concern about biological males potentially competing against women in the Olympics. “A male athlete theoretically could qualify. If Sullivan gets any better, I mean, why not?”

National fencing regulations allow for competition by gender identity, and the International Olympic Committee defers to individual sports’ regulations in determining qualifications — meaning a trans athlete could ostensibly ascend to the Olympics.

Turner, 31, added that she usually doesn’t sign up for events where transgender athletes are competing, but recently decided that’s not sustainable.

“It’s not as if I can just continue to keep canceling or avoiding tournaments, because that becomes expensive — and then ultimately I’d never be able to fence if I was just avoiding every tournament where there was a transgender person,” she said.

Turner only found out that trans athlete Redmond Sullivan, 20, would also be competing at the University of Maryland in College Park event the night before.

“I started crying because … I find that to be unfair, and I got disappointed with the USFA for continuing to allow this,” Turner said, referring to the United States Fencing Administration’s rules governing transgender participation in female sports.

Turner, who competes for the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, said she chose to kneel because “I think this is a model of peaceful protest that’s highly visible and can make the sports governing bodies realize that there are more people against these policies than they may realize.”

She recalled she was “as clear-headed as [she] could be” when she took a knee in front of Sullivan and informed the referee that she would not fence because “this is a women’s tournament.”

When Sullivan asked what she was doing, Turner told The Post that she responded: “I’m sorry, but I will not fence you. You’re a man, and I’m a woman, and this is a women’s tournament. I have much love and respect for you, but I will not fence you.”

Turner remembers her competitor saying, “OK,” in response but also reminding her of USFA rules. She added that Sullivan seemed “upset” and “a little peeved.”

Soon after, a referee informed Turner that she had been black carded and asked her to sign documentation acknowledging her surrender from the tournament.

“I signed it under objection,” she said. “Almost nobody would make eye contact with me as I walked over.”

Even though the crowd stayed silent, she said the outpouring of support in private has been overwhelming.

“I’ve been flooded with text messages and phone calls telling me that they’re supporting me,” said Turner, who declined to share her line of work for privacy reasons. “There are a few people who are going to dig their heels in and refuse to acknowledge the opposition to this policy, and they are holding the entire athletic body hostage to their own personal political beliefs.”

Turner, who has been fencing for 12 years, cited both her faith and role models in women’s sports activism for giving her the bravery to take a knee for what she believes in.

“My faith as a Christian has given me a lot of conviction in standing my ground,” Turner explained. “And also watching Riley Gaines stand her own ground for all these years and stand up for women made me realize that I wanted to pay her back for all that she’s done.”

Turner also warns that the moment to change trans athlete policies might be now or never, because the issue gets more and more complicated as more and more athletes begin competing.

“Reversing these policies has already become expensive, time consuming and often involves litigation,” she explained. “The longer we let this go, the harder it’s going to be to pull back. Halting it now and taking a stand now is better than later.”

Damien Lehfeldt, a director on the USA Fencing board, published an opus in support of trans athletes in 2023.

“There is a possibility that transgender women have a physical advantage over their cisgender opponents after transitioning,” Lehfeldt wrote in a blog post.

“There is also a possibility they do not. In Fencing, there is no data to support either viewpoint. Giving athletes a sense of belonging and a will to live is more powerful than medals and competitive glory.”