Women refuse to compete against transgender athletes. They shouldn't have to.
Women refuse to compete against transgender athletes. They shouldn't have to. | Opinion Women athletes are forfeiting games to avoid competing against transgender athletes. I wish they didn't have to sacrifice so much to make their point.
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Pro disc golfer refuses to play against transgender opponent
Professional disc golfer Abigail Wilson refused to compete against a transgender opponent at a competition in Nashville, TN.
If you need another example of how absurd it is for transgender athletes to be competing against women, look no further than what happened at a recent women's pool tournament in the United Kingdom.
The title match featured two transgender athletes, as allowed by the governing body, the English Pool Association. The two biological male players had defeated the biological women to reach the championship.
What a coincidence.
While that incident is maddening for anyone who cares about fairness in women's sports, there have been recent examples of women standing against the gender insanity that's crept into their lives. Since late last year, women in several high-profile instances have refused to compete – or forfeited a game – to protest transgender-lenient policies that undermine the entire point of women's athletics.
And these women – many of them young women – deserve our full support.
Faced with a transgender opponent? This woman took a knee.
On March 30, Stephanie Turner created an online stir when she refused to compete against her transgender opponent at a USA Fencing-sanctioned tournament in Maryland.
Turner did it in a respectful manner. She didn't cause a scene. She took a knee.
Shame on @USAFencing‼️
This female fencer courageously took a stand + refused to compete against a male athlete.
Athletes like her are true heroes! pic.twitter.com/waZviyWLT5 — Independent Women's Forum (@IWF) April 2, 2025
And for that – standing up for herself – she was disqualified from the event. Refusing to compete earned her a black card, meaning she was out of the tournament.
'I told them that I was refusing to fence because this person is a man, and I'm a woman, and this is a women's tournament and I refuse to fence on principle,' Turner said on Fox News after the incident.
USA Fencing has said that it stands for 'inclusion' and 'fair competition,' but if it is disqualifying a female athlete at a women's event to accommodate a biological male competitor, it's hard to square its mission with its actions.
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Just days after the fencing tournament, Abigail Wilson walked off the disc golf course at the Music City Open in Tennessee to protest being forced to compete against a transgender opponent.
'Females must be protected in our division,' Wilson said. 'This is unfair. I refuse to play.'
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In November, the women volleyball players at Boise State University chose to give up their shot to reach the NCAA tournament when they refused to play San Jose State, a team with a transgender player, in a championship game.
Separately, there's a related lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference related to its transgender policy.
How many more women will have to give up opportunities?
When I see these examples of women standing for themselves and other women, I'm proud of their bravery.
But I also feel for them and what they're giving up. Whether it's a competition at the college or professional level, women who choose not to compete in an unfair situation are forgoing all the sweat, time and money they've devoted to their sport – not to mention other lost opportunities.
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Kiersten Van Kirk, a volleyball player for Boise State, told Outkick the decision not to play was 'disheartening and heartbreaking' but that she's looking beyond herself: 'I know that we are all working towards future generations being able to have a safe place for female athletes to compete and putting that above ourselves, which is a really hard thing to do because obviously our goal was to win a championship. And I think that it's extremely unfair and really terrible that it had to come to that.'
It is unfair. And that's why more attention needs to be brought to what's happening. Thanks to the efforts of female athletes like Riley Gaines, who has become famous for speaking out after she had to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas while in college, more people are taking notice.
That includes President Donald Trump, who has made keeping women's sports for women a priority. He signed an executive order in January protecting women's athletics at schools that receive federal funding. Republicans in Congress are seeking to do the same, but Democrats are unwisely blocking the effort.
In the meantime, women are taking matters into their own hands. But I wish they didn't have to give up so much to make their point.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
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