Who is Stephanie Turner? Women's fencer who knelt to protest trans opponent and ignited global awareness

Women's fencer Stephanie Turner became a household name overnight among activists for women's rights in sports.

A viral video of Turner kneeling to protest a transgender opponent ignited more debate about transgender inclusion in women's sports, especially fencing. 

"It will probably, at least for the moment, destroy my life," Turner told Fox News Digital. "It's very hard for me to do this."

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Her decision was driven by her opposition to competing against biological males. 

"This is a serious issue that is happening within all sports, and it needs to be addressed. There is a difference between men and women," Turner said. "It is a civil rights movement for women and girls, and I prioritize the safety and rights and protection of women and girls over trans-identified males." 

Her belief even overpowered her lifelong political allegiance. 

Turner, a long-time registered Democrat who broke from the party for the most recent election, says she is now a "new Republican conservative."

She switched parties over the issue of transgender athletes in women's and girls sports. 

"A small group of people is holding a much larger athlete base hostage to extremist liberal views," Turner said. 

How did it get to this point? 

She comes from a liberal background

Turner was born and raised in Washington D.C., and now lives in deep blue Montgomery County, Maryland. 

Over the years, she's been involved in a close friend group, which includes other fencers. It also includes multiple members of the LGBT community.

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"They did not know I had this opinion about transgender women in women's sports. And one of them was one of my really good friends at the [fencing] club. He's in the LGBT community, and a lot of my friends are also in the LGBT community. And I don't want them to be mad at me for this. I love them on a personal level. 

"I don't want them to think that I somehow hate them. And I don't want to lose them as friends." 

But Turner also feels she can't have legitimate discussions with some people about the issue. 

"They lie and say that estrogen can make a man a woman also to the point where you can not tell the difference, and it just becomes an insane argument."

She started fencing in college and gradually avoided trans competitors

Turner, 31, ventured into competitive fencing 12 years ago at age 19. She joined the club at the University of Maryland and has stuck with it ever since. She later qualified to compete in USA Fencing. 

"I commit a lot of time and money for this," Turner said, citing travel, equipment and registration expenses.

Turner's official Fencing Tracker page shows 21 podium finishes, including a gold medal in women's foil at an event called the Trick or Retreat ROC Aug. 18 in Edison, New Jersey. 

But she got to a point in her career when she had to be aware of the USA Fencing official gender eligibility policy.

The official policy allows for transgenders to compete in the women's category in both the junior and senior level after completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment. Proof of compliant hormone therapy must be provided prior to competition.

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USA Fencing has a policy announced in November 2022 to give preference when selecting host cities for national tournaments to states without laws that "harm members of LGBTQ communities" and states that do not "have laws undermining the reproductive health of women."

"In fencing, personally, I see it quite often," Turner said. "I have witnessed transgender fencers in women's tournaments and girls tournaments in different age categories, specifically Y-14 (the youngest age group)." 

Turner had a previous experience avoiding a trans opponent in the summer of 2023. She saw reports of a trans athlete who she had previously known as a biological male fencer, by another name. When Turner saw the athlete was listed as a competitor in that year's Summer Nationals, she decided not to go. 

"I never registered because I knew that he was going to be in there," Turner said. "In previous years, when I had known about transgender fencers being present, I just didn't register."

She ended up facing a trans athlete last weekend and decided to do something different

Turner always made sure to avoid registering for events after vetting them for trans athletes.

But what she couldn't foresee was one of them registering after she did. 

That happened for the first time last weekend for a Division I-A event called the Cherry Blossom Open at her alma mater, the University of Maryland. Redmond Sullivan, who previously competed in the men's division, according to Fencing Tracker, was registered and placed in the same bracket as Turner. 

She only learned this at 10:30 p.m. the night before her matchup with Sullivan. 

By that point, she was considering a different approach to handling the situation considering how frequent trans inclusion was becoming.

"I had contemplated in the future that I wanted to avoid not registering for events, just because a transgender person was there, because it could just be every single one of my events has a transgender person," Turner said. 

"So, I was like, ‘You know what, I’m just going to give it to God. If this person shows up into my event, and they're on my strip, then I will take a knee, and that would be God's will." 

But Turner wanted to take things a step further, a step she knew could "destroy her life," but she did it anyway.

Just minutes before she took the strip to kneel against Sullivan, she went to one of her closest friends on the club for a favor. 

"I said, ‘I’m about to do something, and I want you to film it. I'm really nervous about it, and this is your last chance to leave if you want to,' because I didn't know what the reaction was going to be," Turner said.

Her friend agreed to film the kneel, recording a scene that would be witnessed across the fencing world. 

Turner was then dealt a black card, disqualified from the event and escorted out so quickly she didn't get to say another word to her teammates, trainers or anyone else. 

Turner's kneel has ignited global conversations and even a commercial 

Turner didn't want this role. She admits to being a private person without any social media channels who "enjoys anonymity."

"I was hoping someone else would come forward or the board of directors would have a change of heart," Turner said.

A nonprofit fencing organization penned an open letter to USA Fencing Board Members in December, urging the national governing body for the sport to reevaluate its stance on several issues, including transgender inclusion.

"Politics aside, it is a reasonable request to form a task force to do a deeper dive on this issue in fencing and create a safe space where the voices of all women are heard without ridicule and abuse," the letter said.

But nothing was done.

Turner is the latest combatant in the ongoing culture war over the issue of trans athletes in women's sports. She has done a televised interview on Fox News Channel, her story has been covered by multiple media outlets and she is even featured in a commercial. 

The sports activist brand XX-XY Athletics released its new commercial featuring the clip of Turner's kneel Thursday. 

For her, it's all worth it if it means holding institutions like USA Fencing and politicians who have continued to enable trans inclusion accountable. 

"It's a litmus test for common sense in whether a politician is able to lie to your face to abide to common culture," Turner said. 

"Something needs to be done." 

USA Fencing provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the incident. 

"USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and nonbinary athlete policy in 2023. The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces. The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day," the statement said.

"We respect the viewpoints on all sides and encourage our members to continue sharing them with us as the matter evolves. It's important for the fencing community to engage in this dialogue, but we expect this conversation to be conducted respectfully, whether at our tournaments or in online spaces. The way to progress is by respectful discussion based in evidence." 

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A USA Fencing spokesperson also told Fox News Digital Turner was not penalized for her stance against trans inclusion, but simply for refusing to fence. 

"In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to any personal statement but was merely the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE rules clearly prohibit," the spokesperson said.

"According to the FIE (International Fencing Federation) Technical Rules, specifically Article t.113, a fencer is not permitted to refuse to fence another properly entered fencer for any reason. Under these rules, such a refusal results in disqualification and the corresponding sanctions. This policy exists to maintain fair competition standards and preserve the sport’s integrity." 

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