Transgender fencer held women's scholarship before Trump order and NCAA policy change
Fencer Stephanie Turner was black-carded last year for refusing to compete against a trans-identifying male opponent in a women’s fencing tournament.Now, Turner says a new detail proves exactly why she took a knee in the first place.CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGERedmond Sullivan, the transgender fencer Turner refused to face at the Cherry Blossom Open in March 2025, previously received a $5,000 athletic scholarship per semester while competing at Wagner College, according to a recent CT Mirror profile. Two fencers clash foil swords on a dramatically lit stage to determine the match winner. (Getty Images)Sullivan, who previously fenced for Wagner’s men’s team before moving to the women’s team in 2024, lost the scholarship after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at keeping males out of women’s sports and after the NCAA changed its transgender athlete policy.The CT Mirror profile framed Sullivan’s story as one of loss and rebuilding. Turner sees it very differently."It’s funny Redmond let it slip in this sob piece that he’s been earning women’s athletic scholarship money, as if women should feel sorry that he’s been stealing money and opportunities from them," Turner told OutKick."It really highlights the obscenity of trans activist claims that ‘transwomen’ just want to be included when in fact they’re earning coveted positions on college sports teams, scholarship money, and awards off the backs of deserving women." Stephanie Turner prepares for competition. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Turner)Turner became a viral figure in March 2025 when she took a knee rather than fence Sullivan in the Division 1A women’s foil event at the Cherry Blossom Open, a USA Fencing-sanctioned regional tournament held at the University of Maryland.Turner removed her mask, knelt and refused to compete. She was issued a black card and disqualified from the tournament.At the time, USA Fencing said Turner was not punished for her beliefs, but rather for refusing to fence an eligible competitor. The organization later placed Turner on one year of probation.The incident quickly became one of the most visible flashpoints in the national debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports. Turner testified before Congress in May 2025 and said her protest was an act of desperation after years of frustration with USA Fencing’s transgender athlete policy.Since then, the landscape has shifted dramatically.USA Fencing later changed its policy to require athletes in domestic competition to compete according to biological sex, following updated guidance from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. The NCAA also changed its policy after Trump’s executive order, limiting women’s competition to biological females only.USA FENCING TRANSGENDER SAGA TAKES IRONIC TWIST AS ORG DEFENDS BANNING TRANS ATHLETE FROM WOMEN'S EVENTAnd last week, the Supreme Court handed supporters of women’s sports another major victory, ruling 6-3 against challenges to laws in Idaho and West Virginia that restrict males from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. U.S. President Donald Trump joined by women athletes signs the "No Men in Women’s Sports" executive order in the East Room at the White House on February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. The executive order, which Trump signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, prohibits transgender women from competing in women’s sports and is the third order he has signed that targets transgender people. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)Turner said the ruling was a relief, but she believes the fight is far from over."It’s such a relief to see the Supreme Court ruling against men in women’s sports. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment," Turner told OutKick. "However, there’s a lot of work to be done at the state level. Totally ridding women’s sports of men requires states to pass their own bills, and we all know there are Democrat-run state legislatures so deeply wedded to transgender ideology that the idea of passing such bills seems daunting."As long as we keep sounding the alarm, waking people up to common sense, and cataloging our grievance, these bills will get passed. It’s only a matter of time."According to CT Mirror, Sullivan has since transferred to UConn, majors in history and secondary education, practices with the UConn Fencing Club and competes in mixed-gender fencing events when possible. Sullivan told the outlet fencing is no longer the main focus."My life is now rotated to focus on different goals, and it’s not fencing," Sullivan said. "Which was going to happen eventually, because it’s something that you can only do for so long. But I would’ve liked to have chased fencing for a little bit longer."CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPFor Turner, the scholarship detail adds a new layer to a story that was initially framed by critics as one athlete refusing to include another.Her argument is that the issue was never simply about participation. It was about roster spots, competitive opportunities, awards and now, by Sullivan’s own account, scholarship money. Amber Harding is a writer for OutKick.
