Fans livid as USA fencing disqualify female athlete for refusing to face trans rival

Social media is successful uproar aft a pistillate fencer was disqualified for refusing to look a transgender opponent, with fans branding the contention 'tainted and unfair'.

USA's Stephanie Turner initially lined up to look Redmond Sullivan successful a tourney astatine the University of Maryland earlier this week, lone to take a genu and region her disguise successful protest astatine being matched against a biologic male.

As a result, she was subsequently excluded from the Cherry Blossom contention and suspended for the remainder of it aft being shown a achromatic card. 

Turner had completed 4 matches earlier facing Sullivan, who yet came 24th retired of 39 successful the tournament.

After the arguable incident, fans person taken to societal media to blast USA fencing for disqualifying a pistillate rival and allowing a transgender jock to instrumentality part.

One idiosyncratic posted connected X: 'You let biologic men to vie with women frankincense stripping women from reaching their dreams. Shame connected you!'

'Why are you disqualifying women and not the transgenders invading women’s sports,' asked another.

'Shame connected each azygous 1 of you who let men to vie with women. SHAME,' wrote a third.

A 4th said: 'Your enactment and your radical doing this to women and girls is an embarrassment. Go f*** yourselves'.

While 1 simply commented: 'Your women’s contention is tainted and unfair.'

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who has often spoken retired against transgender women competing successful pistillate athletics successful caller years, besides weighed successful connected the contention by saying: 'And again....'

Shortly aft Turner's disqualification, USA Fencing produced a connection successful enactment of Sullivan - who controversially switched to her college's women's team past twelvemonth - and transgender information successful the sport. 

The connection read: 'USA Fencing enacted our existent transgender and non-binary jock argumentation successful 2023. The argumentation was designed to grow entree to the athletics of fencing and make inclusive, harmless spaces. 

'The argumentation is based connected the rule that everyone should person the quality to enactment successful sports and was based upon the probe disposable of the day.

'We recognize that the speech connected equity and inclusion pertaining to transgender information successful athletics is evolving. USA Fencing volition ever err connected the broadside of inclusion, and we're committed to amending the argumentation arsenic much applicable evidence-based probe emerges, oregon arsenic argumentation changes instrumentality effect successful the wider Olympic and Paralympic movement.

'We respect the viewpoints connected each sides and promote our members to proceed sharing them with america arsenic the substance evolves. It's important for the fencing assemblage to prosecute successful this dialogue, but we expect this speech to beryllium conducted respectfully, whether astatine our tournaments oregon successful online spaces. The mode to advancement is by respectful treatment based successful evidence.

'In the lawsuit of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to immoderate idiosyncratic connection but was simply the nonstop effect of her determination to diminution to obstruction an eligible opponent, which the FIE [International Fencing Federation] rules intelligibly prohibit.

'USA Fencing is obligated to travel the missive of those rules and guarantee that participants respect the standards acceptable astatine the planetary level. We stay committed to inclusivity wrong our athletics portion besides upholding each request dictated by our governing body.'

Turner, meanwhile, explained that she had nary volition of taking connected 'a man' and truthful chose to region herself from the match. 

'I saw that I was going to beryllium successful a excavation with Redmond, and from determination I said, "OK, let's bash it. I'm going to instrumentality the knee,"' she revealed.

'I knew what I had to bash due to the fact that USA Fencing had not been listening to women's objections. I took a genu instantly astatine that point. Redmond [Sullivan] was nether the content that I was going to commencement fencing. 

'So erstwhile I took the knee, I looked astatine the ref and I said: "I'm sorry, I cannot bash this. I americium a woman, and this is simply a man, and this is simply a women's tournament. And I volition not obstruction this individual."

'Redmond didn't perceive me, and helium comes up to me, and helium thinks that I whitethorn beryllium hurt, oregon helium doesn't recognize what's happening. He asks: "Are you OK?" And I said: "I'm sorry. I person overmuch emotion and respect for you, but I volition not obstruction you."