Trans athlete controversy: Tennis legend slams USA Fencing after protest

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova slammed up USA screens after a feminine sharper took a knee when she refused to compete towards a transgenderatleet throughout an occasion on the weekend.

Stephanie Turner made the choice to not compete towards Transatleet Redmond Sullivan within the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland. As an alternative, she determined to take a knee. The referee gave Turner a black card, which represents essentially the most critical high quality within the sport. She advised Fox Information Digital that she was then accompanied from the occasion and was made to signal a doc that acknowledged the high quality.

The second went viral on social media on Wednesday, and Navratilova, who has turn out to be a champion of honesty in girls’s sports activities, weighed.

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Ladies’s ships Stephanie Turner kneels in protest for transgenderatleet Redmond Sullivan. (Due to icons)

“That is what occurs when feminine athletes protest! Everybody right here nonetheless thinks that that is trustworthy ??? I’m messing … and are you ashamed of @usafencing, are you ashamed of this. How do you dare to throw girls beneath the gender bulls — bus !!!” She wrote on X.

Former NCAA -Schermer Juliana Peceli additionally weighed in.

“As a retired D1 @NCAA Fencer I used to be pressured to compete towards males who claimed to be girls. Feminine athletes commit our lives to our sport, simply to let males take our locations, our titles and our future,” she wrote on X.

“A praise for the ladies who refuse to just accept this injustice.”

USA Fencing responded to the incident in a press release to FOX Information Digital.

“USA Fencing established our present transgender and non-binary athlete coverage in 2023. The coverage is designed to broaden entry to the screens sport and to create inclusive, protected areas. The coverage is predicated on the precept that everybody ought to have the chance to take part within the day,” learn the assertion of the assertion.

“We respect the views to all events and encourage our members to proceed to share them with us as the problem evolves. It’s important that the Screens Neighborhood offers with this dialogue, however we anticipate this dialog to be carried out respectfully, both at our tournaments or in on-line areas.

A spokesperson for the US screens additionally advised Fox Information Digital that Turner was not punished for her place towards Trans -inclusion, however merely for refusing fence.

Martina Navratilova in a joint press convention with Chris Evert on day 5 of the GNP Saguaros WTA Finals Cancun in Cancun, Mexico, on November 2, 2023. (Susan Mullane-usa In the present day Sports activities)

Ladies’s Fencer opens on refusing transgender opponent, accepting punishment and recoil

“Within the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not associated to a private assertion, however was solely the direct results of her resolution to refuse an eligible opponent that clearly prohibit the foundations,” stated the spokesperson.

“In line with De Fie (Worldwide Fencing Federation) Technical Guidelines, particularly Article T.113, a Schermer is just not permitted to refuse one other appropriately launched Schekier for no matter cause. Underneath these guidelines, such refusal ends in disqualification and the corresponding sanctions. This coverage exists to retain the requirements of the game and the integrity of the game.”

Turner advised Fox Information Digital that she was a lifelong democrat, however the concept of ​​having organic males in girls’s sports activities was by no means proper along with her. She stated she identifies herself as a “new Republican conservative.”

Fencer Stephanie Turner kneels for an USA screens official. (Due to icons)

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“I voted Purple Down the ticket this 12 months,” Turner stated. “It was as for those who wakened with the lies of the common media … Simply to see so a lot of my pals have these glassy eyes whereas they solely defend this coverage as a result of their brains can not handle that their celebration or their place has been improper, and maybe this isn’t a civil rights motion, and so they have been misled.”

Jackson Thompson from Fox Information has contributed to this report.

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