NCAA Are Feckless Simps For Trans Fencer
On April 2, 2025, Stephanie Turner, a 31-year-old female fencer from the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, took a bold stand at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland by refusing to compete against transgender athlete Redmond Sullivan. Turner, who had already fenced in four bouts that day, made the decision the night before after discovering she was matched against Sullivan, a biological male who had previously competed on Wagner College’s men’s team before switching to the women’s division. In a powerful act of protest, Turner took a knee and removed her mask, fully aware that her refusal would lead to disqualification under USA Fencing rules, which prohibit fencers from declining to compete against an eligible opponent. Her actions, captured on video and viewed over a million times on X, sparked widespread debate, with many praising her for standing up for fairness in women’s sports, while others criticized her for not adhering to the sport’s inclusivity policies.
The NCAA and USA Fencing’s response to Turner’s protest highlights a troubling lack of backbone when it comes to addressing the concerns of female athletes. Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue about the fairness of allowing biological males to compete in women’s divisions—especially given Sullivan’s history of competing against men and winning top prizes like the Connecticut Division Junior Olympic Qualifiers after transitioning—USA Fencing issued a black card, expelling Turner from the tournament entirely. Their statement to Fox News emphasized that the disqualification was due to her refusal to fence an “eligible opponent,” citing International Fencing Federation rules, but failed to address the underlying issue: the biological advantages that many female athletes, like Turner, feel put them at a disadvantage. The NCAA, which has historically deferred to national governing bodies like USA Fencing for sport-specific policies, has done little to reassess its approach, even as athletes like Turner and advocates like Riley Gaines call for change following President Trump’s 2025 executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports at federally funded institutions.
This fecklessness from the NCAA and its affiliates is not new but has reached a boiling point with cases like Turner’s. The organization’s 2022 policy shift to a sport-by-sport approach, which allows transgender women to compete after a year of testosterone suppression, has been criticized for prioritizing inclusivity over fairness, ignoring the real concerns of female athletes who feel their opportunities are being undermined. The NCAA’s silence on Turner’s case, coupled with its failure to address the broader implications of biological males competing in women’s sports—despite lawsuits from athletes like Gaines over similar issues with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas—shows a refusal to lead on a divisive issue. While USA Fencing claims to “respect viewpoints on all sides,” their actions suggest otherwise, punishing Turner rather than confronting the systemic questions her protest raises, leaving female athletes to fend for themselves in a system that seems more concerned with optics than equity.
