A highly rated fencer "took a knee" in a Maryland tournament rather than face a transgender opponent.
Women’s fencer Stephanie Turner refused a match against a transgender opponent at the Cherry Blossom Open in Maryland this past weekend, opting to take a knee instead.
. . .
“I knew what I had to do because USA Fencing had not been listening to women’s objections regarding [its gender eligibility policy],” Turner said. “I took a knee immediately at that point. Redmond was under the impression that I was going to start fencing. So when I took the knee, I looked at the ref and said, ‘I’m sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is a women’s tournament. And I will not fence this individual.”
“Redmond didn’t hear me, and he comes up to me, and he thinks that I may be hurt, or he doesn’t understand what’s happening. He asks, ‘Are you OK?’ And I said, ‘I’m sorry. I have much love and respect for you, but I will not fence you,” she added.
Even though Redmond warned Turner that she would likely be disqualified for refusing to compete, she accepted her fate anyway. Indeed, minutes after her refusal, the referees gave Turner the black card penalty, and she was expelled from the tournament.
. . .
USA Fencing defended its transgender and non-binary athlete policy as a means for inclusion.
“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,” it said in a statement.
“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,” it added.
Turner acknowledged that she will face backlash for her decision ... “It will probably, at least for a moment, destroy my life. I don’t think that it’s going to be easy for me from now on going to fencing tournaments. I don’t think it’s going to be easy for me at practice,” Turner said. “It’s very hard for me to do this.”
There's more at the link.
Of course, I agree with her position, which is medically and biologically unassailable. One's sex - and, yes, one's gender too, despite protests from the "woke" - is determined by one's chromosomes. A man can undergo all the sex-change surgery he wants, and a woman likewise, but their chromosomes will remain as they were at birth. Changing the outward appearance cannot and does not change the underlying person. For anyone or any body (sports or otherwise) to argue otherwise is to defy science, to spit in the face of reality.
We're going to have to continue to confront this evil twisting of reality and denial of truth for years to come, because those behind it are diabolically persistent in trying to overturn science in favor of their own brand of pseudo-science. Congratulations to Ms. Turner for upholding the truth and refusing to be cowed by falsehood. May her example motivate many others to do likewise.
As Theodore Dalrymple has pointed out:
When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control.
One may safely assume that Ms. Turner will not be "easy to control". Excellent!
Peter
18 comments:
Calling it "sex-change" surgery is buying into the lie, since it doesn't do that.
"Cosmetic" surgery would be more accurate since that's what it does.
Notice the treatment of the person depends on the person's politics and perceived group membership. You can 'take a knee' at a NFL game as a protest , and suddenly you're a courageous quarterback "making a statement".
But take a knee to protest transgenderism, and they'll do their best to destroy you with the full approval of their own conscience.
"The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports"
But but but - they DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE. They really really do. Only they need to do it in the MEN'S category. Jeez, is that so difficult to understand? If that's not good enough, make a third OPEN category and see how well that works out for you.
God bless the young lady for refusing to accept the Madness. If her fellow swordswomen would follow her example, then there wouldn't BE anyone, esp. In a combat sport, for this GUY to build a false win record on...Fencing is a "Combat Sport". Safety points can come loose or be broken. Her stance is the only honorable one being taken, here.
Had more women done this early on, things would have developed differently.
But, being women, they chose to go along.
“We respect the viewpoints on all sides and encourage our members to continue sharing them with us as the matter evolves."
Well that's clearly not true, demonstrated by their own actions.
The league could add two more competitions, for instance, trans male vs trans male, and trans female vs trans female, in the interests of fairness. But of course they won't.
Sex is biological. Gender is grammatical.
To quote a very old saying "all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!" In this case one good woman chose to do something and for that she has earned all our respect.
think back to that episode of Star Trek Next Generation when the cardassians kidnapped Picard and tried to make him say there are 5 lights in a room with 4 lights. that is what's happening. it's an organized large scale mindfuck
Another thought:
The "men's" division in most sports competition is misnamed.
It should be called the "open" division. Women are free to compete in that division; not many do.
You might also be interested in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's short 1974 essay, "Live Not By Lies:"
https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/live-not-by-lies
Anyone who says it's "fair" for men to fence with women has never fenced--or is lying. Men have an upper-body strength advantage that can make a difference, as it incluses wrist, forearm and grip strength. They often have a reach advantage as well.
The transgender fencer was there for the advantage he has, not because he was not allowed to fence with the men.
Bob G
If the male fencers in USA fencing had any real BALLS, they'd declare that they identified as women, vanquish all the trannies, and then throw the matches when bone fide women competed.
USA Fencing would look like the woketards they are, and the universe would achieve balance.
It would also be the single greatest demonstration of true sportsmanship in modern history.
"We respect the viewpoints on all sides and encourage our members to continue sharing them with us as the matter evolves."
Bullshit. If that were true, they would not have DQ'd her from the tournament. Hypocrites.
I cannot believe that this crap is still going on.
I'm assuming that most/all trannies are taking some sort of stearoid or other types of drugs to change parts of their bodies? Pass a rule/law that this condition invalidates any competition in any class.
Here I must disagree. I fenced (epee, Sabre and Foil though primarily epee). At the club I fenced at women and men often fenced together in all the weapons. I would say ONLY at the highest level did roughly equal in traning really start to have an advantage in foil which is what the young lady was fencing. Because of Foil's Right of Way rules sheer force is rarely used in foil, and those that persist in it tend to get their asses handed to them as their opponent will disengage or allow the opponent to come to corp a corps which is a warning for the one initiating the action. Speed does matter and there a athletic male will have an advantage over a female of similar athletic training. It seems likely that this Foilist may have had a good chance of winning.
That said the young lady did the right thing and a very brave thing. She seemed to feel that it was wrong for a male to fence competitively at all due to his advantages even if the outcome was in doubt. She had to know that by refusing to fence she would be black carded and evicted from the tournament. If you're working towards nationals or Olympic teams that likely means an end to your dreams as you just Stuck a finger in the eye of USA Fencing. She wasn't doing this just for herself but for fellow lady sportsman especially in Sabre and Epee where physical advantages would be more distinct.
As a long-time fencer (started more than fifty years ago) who still competes, I say the "inclusivity" excuse is BS. There are many Mixed Open tournaments in all the weapons, tournaments in which women can and do compete against men, tournaments which women sometimes win. A "trans" fencer can enter any of those by simply showing USA Fencing membership and paying the entry fees. This problem came up because a guy didn't just want to compete: he wanted to win, and he figured he had a better chance to get a medal and maybe a better rating if his only opponents were women. Mixed competition is common all over the country, remember!
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