On March 30, Stephanie Turner was matched against Redmond Sullivan — a male — during The Cherry Blossom - D1A/VET ROC event in Maryland, hosted by USA Fencing.
Turner, 31-year-old member of the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, has been fencing for more than a decade. Before that she was a competitive gymnast.
The night before the event, Turner saw that she would be competing against Sullivan, whom she had read about in an article last year. USA Fencing supports allowing males who identify as women to compete against female athletes.
Since Sullivan switched from men’s fencing competitions to the women’s fencing competitions, he has blown women away, including at the Junior Olympics last December. This year, with “Wagner University NCAA” listed as his team, he finished 1st at the Connecticut Division Summer National Qualifiers earlier in March.
"I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections," Turner said.
When the time came to compete, she said she was shaky, but she did not falter. She took off her mask and took a knee. Watch this video to learn what happened next:
Here is the exchange:
Turner: I’m sorry, I can’t do this. I’m a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women’s tournament. I will not fence against this individual.
Official: I’ll check, but I think you’ll get a black card.
Redmond: Are you OK?
Turner: I’m sorry. I have a lot of love and respect for you, but I will not fence you.
Redmond: Well, there’s a member on the board of directors who supports me, and there’s a policy that recognizes me as a woman, so I’m allowed to fence. If you refuse, you will get a black card.
Turner: I know.
After the event, Turner said that she believes her action, at least for a moment, will destroy her life. It will be hard for her to go to future fencing tournaments and practice will also not be easy.
“It's very hard for me to do this,” she said.
While Turner forfeited her match up, risked her reputation and jeopardized friendships, her actions will create a wave of consequences for USA Fencing — the pipeline for fencers in the Olympics.
She’s a real hero.
And that's why she's our latest Courage Wins Champion. To find out more about the program to go xx-xyathletics.org.
