Stephanie Turner, Woman Fencer
Women's fencer Stephanie Turner took her mask off and got a knee in front of her transgender opponent.
Ahead of a bout at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland over the weekend, Turner, 31, made the decision not to compete against trans athlete Redmond Sullivan. And Turner also wanted to make sure her refusal was caught on video for the world to see.
Turner came to the decision the night before the event when she checked the competition pools and saw that she would be competing against Sullivan, whom she had read about in an article last year.
"I saw that I was going to be in a pool with Redmond, and from there I said, 'OK, let's do it. I'm going to take the knee,'" Turner told Fox News Digital.
Turner went through all her warm-ups that day and went on to fence in four bouts before her matchup with the trans athlete. When it came, she was "nervous and shaky," but was sure about her decision.
"I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy]," Turner said.
"I took a knee immediately at that point. Redmond was under the impression that I was going to start fencing. So 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.'
"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."
And right after that, Turner's punishment by USA Fencing commenced.