USA Fencing finds out Trump is serious about protecting women’s sports
President Donald Trump is serious about protecting sporting events that are intended for women or girls against men or boys who simply say they are female.
As officials in USA Fencing are finding out.
A report from Fox explains that the Trump administration now is investigating USA Fencing for punishing a woman who refused to compete against a man who said he was a woman.
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, on Friday, “We have a special Title IX investigations team that is going to be investigating anyone who was associated with this to make sure that this doesn’t continue to happen. The president has made crystal clear that he is not going to tolerate men being able to compete in women’s sports, he signed an executive order, and we’re upholding Title IX.”
She said the special investigators will be probing the USA Fencing event where officials punished women’s fencer Stephanie Turner for not competing against a man.
She was disqualified from the event and “escorted out of the venue,” the report said.
The Title IX Special Investigations Team will investigate the parties that reportedly allowed a man to compete in a women’s fencing tournament last month.
President Trump has been clear: men do not belong in women’s sports.
pic.twitter.com/MKVz22TbiD— Secretary Linda McMahon (@EDSecMcMahon) April 11, 2025
“There’s nothing for me, and there’s everything for him. I’m a woman. I have no other choice of where to compete.”
The brave female fencer who took a knee speaks out. pic.twitter.com/EHGWwYd1De
— Natalie Jean Beisner (@NJBeisner) April 3, 2025
Female Fencer Expelled For Refusing To Compete Against Male Opponent
Stephanie Turner refused to compete against transgender fencer Redmond Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open, opting to take a knee at the start of the match, consequently being disqualified from the… pic.twitter.com/RaGhaLFgRE
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) April 5, 2025
The scenario prompted ridicule of the man in the women’s competition, online:
One of these athletes is a biological male who competed on his mens college team last season but switched gender to fence on his schools women’s team this season.
Meanwhile, female fencer Stephanie Turner’s fencing career is over because she was banned from future competitions… pic.twitter.com/iVqVfL4V0B— MAGA Marine (@Butch_britton1) April 7, 2025
According to Fox, an official with the Department of Education confirmed that the University of Maryland, where the event was held, also has a “responsibility” for the attack on Turner.
That official told Fox, “The nation watched as a female competitor bravely took a knee and forfeited an inherently unfair fencing match after discovering that her opponent was a male. No woman should have to recuse herself from a match that she trained diligently for because she fears for her safety. As a tournament host, University of Maryland has a responsibility to follow Title IX by not allowing males to compete in female competitions and occupy female-only intimate facilities.”
Officials said Wagner College also could be in trouble because it failed its responsibility to not allow men on women’s rosters.
The Title IX investigations team, newly formed, is a work of the Departments of Education and Justice.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has explained, “Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice. This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women’s sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women’s civil rights.”
From the Department of Justice came blame for Joe Biden for the problem.
“Women across America have spent the last four years disenfranchised by the Biden administration that allowed men to compete in girls’ sports – jeopardizing their safety, stealing their scholarships, and stripping them of hard-earned awards. The Title IX Special Investigations Team will continue to go after bad actors who continue to endanger young women with woke gender ideology and will leverage every legal resource available to ensure states and organizations follow Title IX to protect women’s civil rights and competitive sports,” the DOJ statement said.
USA Fencing officials have doubled down, insisting they want to have men compete against women.
They call their agenda being “an inclusive, respectful community.”
The organization, however, repeatedly has gone political with its sports events, even insisting that it will prefer locations without abortion restrictions for events.