A feminine fencer who was disqualified for refusing to face a transgender competitor has been lauded with a “braveness” award from a girls’s rights model.
Stephanie Turner, 31, was booted from USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland final month after she opted to take a knee as an alternative of competing towards Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old trans fencer who was born biologically male.
XX-XY Athletics — a model that advocates for girls’s rights in sport — has now named Turner its newest “Braveness Wins Champion.”
“By taking a knee, she turned extra highly effective than any male,” XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey stated.
“She stood her floor to battle for girls’s sports activities,” she added. “She’s a hero.”
Turner was thrust into the highlight when a clip of her March 30 protest exploded on-line, with many blasting her punishment as “unfair” and an “injustice.”
The footage confirmed Turner getting ready to duel — just for her to abruptly tear off her masks, toss it apart and kneel in entrance of her shocked opponent.
“I did this for my very own bodily security, as a result of it is a fight sport — and, in competitors setting, males do fence quite a bit tougher than girls and I don’t need to get damage,” Turner instructed The Publish within the aftermath.
Turner, who has been fencing for greater than a decade, added that she won’t have gotten into the game within the first place had she recognized this is able to occur.
“Once I first began, this was unfathomable,” she stated.
“It makes me very indignant to see that we’re going together with any individual else’s fantasy.”
USA Fencing insisted Turner wasn’t disqualified for her protest however over her refusal to compete.
“USA Fencing stays dedicated to fostering an inclusive, respectful group for everybody in our sport. We consider within the precept of making secure communities the place all athletes, and group members, have a spot,” a press release learn.
“Whereas we perceive there are a number of views, USA Fencing will proceed to interact in respectful, research-based dialogue and overview as coverage evolves within the Olympic and Paralympic motion in addition to home legislation, hate speech of any form is just not acceptable—on-line or in particular person. Let’s maintain the dialog respectful and the strip welcoming to all.”
Supply hyperlink
