The cisgender fencer who made headlines for refusing to compete against a trans opponent at a recent tournament has been awarded $5,000 by an anti-trans athletics apparel company.

Right-wing outlet GB News reports that Stephanie Turner received XX-XY Athletics’ “Courage Wins Award” on Monday in recognition of her anti-trans protest at USA Fencing’s Cherry Blossom Open tournament on March 30.

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Representing the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia in the tournament, Turner faced four other opponents at the event but was disqualified after she took a knee — a form of protest popularized by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick and other Black players opposing racism — rather than compete against trans fencer Redmond Sullivan.

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Since 2023, USA Fencing policy has allowed transgender women to compete in women’s events if they have completed “one calendar year of testosterone-suppression treatment.”

Those opposed to trans women competing in girls’ and women’s sports, like out tennis legend Martina Navratilova, railed against USA Fencing, framing Turner’s disqualification as retaliation for her own position on trans athletes.

However, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) rules state that a fencer is not permitted to refuse to fence another properly entered fencer for any reason. In a statement, USA Fencing said that Turner’s “disqualification was not related to any personal statement but was merely the direct result of her decision to decline to fence an eligible opponent.”

In a statement, XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey described Turner as “a hero.”

“By taking a knee, she became more powerful than any male. She stood her ground to fight for women’s sports,” Sey said.

Sey added that XX-XY Athletics, which describes itself as “the only athletic brand that stands up for women’s sports,” aims “to take the sting out of monetary cancelation” with its award and to “platform” cisgender women like Turner. Along with the cash prize, Turner has also been admitted to the company’s leadership program.

Despite anti-trans claims that all trans women possess unfair physical advantages over all cis female athletes in all sports, Sullivan actually ended the March 30 tournament by placing only 24th out of 39.

Similarly, Sey’s suggestion that cis athletes who speak out against trans women competing in women’s sports face “monetary cancelation” and de-platforming doesn’t exactly jibe with the reality of figures like Riley Gaines, an XX-XY Athletics brand ambassador. The former University of Kentucky swimmer gained a national platform after she tied for fifth place with trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the women’s 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 National Collegiate Athletics Association swimming and diving championships. Gaines has since published a memoir and a children’s book and earns between $20,000 and $30,000 for speaking engagements. She has also used her platform to attack specific trans athletes, in at least one instance, costing a 17-year-old high school volleyball player a scholarship.

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