Late last month, fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee rather than compete against trans opponent Red Sullivan and was disqualified from the University of Maryland's Cherry Blossom tournament. The event sparked a campaign on Fox News, filled with anti-trans bigotry but lacking key context, and eventually prompted both federal and state investigations into USA Fencing's trans-inclusive policy. The Department of Education's investigation was announced during an interview with Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Fox News' Faulkner Focus, further underscoring the network's role in promoting the incident. 

Here are three things you might have missed about the fencers, the tournament, and right-wing media's role in driving the backlash: 

• Turner competed in a coed tournament just seven days before she refused to spar with a trans opponent. Previously reported in Rolling Stone, Turner finished in eighth place out of 32 fencers at the Swarthmore College Phoenix Cup C & Under tournament, where she competed, and won, against multiple male fencers in the mixed foil event. During the course of that tournament, Turner, 31, also had bouts against teenage and college club opponents. 
• Sullivan finished 24th out of 39 fencers in the all-women's event that prompted controversy. Sullivan lost four of her six bouts in the women’s foil event, as previously reported in Rolling Stone. Earlier this year at the USA Fencing 2025 Junior Olympics, she placed 172nd out of 246 fencers, losing five of her seven bouts in the junior women’s foil event.

• Following the forfeit, Turner received $5,000 from anti-trans organization XX-XY. XX-XY CEO Jennifer Sey announced that Turner would be honored as a “Courage Wins Champion” and awarded the sum during an interview on Fox News. XX-XY has been endorsed by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been a longtime proponent of trans exclusion in women's sports and beyond. In addition to her partnership with XX-XY, Gaines hosts her own show on Fox News’ sports outlet, OutKick, where she has promoted her exclusionary views and targeted trans athletes. 

In spite of all this, Fox News hosts and guests have promoted backlash against Sullivan, deploying anti-trans rhetoric and using the case to urge further exclusion of trans athletes. 

• Turner gave an interview on America Reports, where she spoke about her forfeit. Despite her history of coed competition, Turner told co-host John Roberts, “I am a woman, and I have an athletic disadvantage to men, so I compete in the women's division, which is where I rightfully am." Turner added that she knew Sullivan was trans because she recognized the name from Reduxx, an outlet that had published a “hit piece” on the athlete's identity. [Fox News, America Reports, 4/3/25; Rolling Stone, 4/12/25]
• Gaines appeared on America's Newsroom, where she praised Turner's forfeit. Gaines falsely stated that the competition was a “junior women’s olympic qualifying event,” adding, “It’s the pinnacle of their sport at this point.” The tournament was a regional event that had no ties to the Olympics, as Turner stated on America Reports. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 4/3/25; Fox News, America Reports, 4/3/25]
• On Outnumbered, Fox contributor Nicole Saphier suggested that Sullivan transitioned solely for an alleged competitive advantage, saying, “These men can't cut it with the other male athletes, so therefore they are coming into the female sports.” Co-host Emily Campagno added that there should be a “full house cleaning” of “sports that are letting biological men compete with women.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 4/3/25]
• On The Five, co-host Dana Perino said she was “disgusted” that USA Fencing had, in co-host Jesse Watters' words, “backed the man.” She said of Turner, “I think it's horrible that she has to be the most courageous person compared to all these other women athletes who have succeeded and are now in retirement with all of their millions.” [The Five, Fox News, 4/3/25]
• Host Jesse Watters praised Turner, saying that she wouldn't let her opponent “get off on his little fetish.” Watters also mistakenly referred to Turner as a “collegiate fencer.” Turner, 31, is not affiliated with a college or university. [Fox News, Jesse Watters Prime Time, 4/5/25]
• On America's Newsroom, guest and Fox anchor Martha MacCallum praised Turner, calling her “courageous.” Co-host Dana Perino expressed dismay that older athletes were not making exclusionary statements and said young competitors “are not being backed up by the very women who wanted Title IX in the first place.” [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 4/9/25]

Amid the backlash, USA Fencing stood by its trans-inclusive policies which require “one calendar year (12 months) of testosterone suppression treatment” for athletes assigned male at birth who wish to compete in the women's category. A USA Fencing spokesperson told Fox News that Turner's disqualification had nothing to do with her protest of the policy, saying, “In the case of Stephanie Turner, her disqualification was not related to any personal statement but was merely the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent, which the FIE rules clearly prohibit.” Sullivan told Rolling Stone that the broader fencing community had also been supportive amid the backlash. 

The campaign against USA Fencing and Sullivan has already had real-world consequences. Both Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon have announced investigations into the incident.