It appears this individual has voluntarily left the team.
Fencing is a competitive swordplay sport. Thirty-one-year-old Stephanie Turner made national news when, on March 30, she forfeited a match against her male competitor, Redmond Sullivan.
Until now, the transgender-identifying athlete competed on the women's team at Wagner College, an institution in Staten Island, New York.
Sullivan won a gold medal in the women’s category of the Connecticut Division Junior Olympic Qualifier in December of 2024.
Tom Joyce is reporter with New Boston Post. He follows instances of men competing on women's sports teams across the Northeastern U.S. and beyond.
“Well, I think it's certainly a positive development. President (Donald) Trump signed an executive order early in the year saying that athletic bodies in states that allow males to compete in women's sports would have funding revoked … I think it's about time that Wagner College got rid of the male on its women's fencing roster. He was competing actually in a tournament that was a non-NCAA event, but it was a USA fencing-sanctioned event,” Joyce explained.
He said it takes guts and bravery for a woman to refuse to participate in the match against a male opponent like Turner did.
“We’re seeing more and more women standing up for themselves in the face of this whole transgenderist athlete participation, whatever you want to call it. And it's what has to be done, right? There was a New York Times poll in January. It said 79% of the country opposes males competing in women's sports, yet somehow, the oldest party in the United States, the second oldest party in the world, I believe, the Democratic party, is not willing to condemn this. It's such a commonsense issue.”
Gender confusion aside, there motivation for biological males to compete as females is clear.
“The fact is that there are guys in women's sports, and they're doing really well because anyone who's participated in sports knows why we separate boys and girls, men and women, to begin with. There are obvious physical differences in terms of athletic capabilities.”
For the ladies, benefits denied
Girls and women should not be denied the rewards of athletic competition for the sake of a male’s gender fantasy.
“I think it's great that women's sports exist … the team-building, camaraderie, physical fitness, discipline, working with others. Girls shouldn't be denied that opportunity by dudes. Dudes can play on dudes’ teams. I don't see any reason why this guy couldn't do fencing somewhere else. Just fence against guys. No one's saying you can't do fencing. They're just saying you've got to compete against guys, and the girls have to compete against girls. Pretty simple.”
