Stephanie Turner steps away from USA Fencing career as she's put on probation after protesting trans athlete

Women's fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee in protest when paired with a transgender opponent at a major competition at the University of Maryland, and was then immediately disqualified. (Credit: ICONS)

EXCLUSIVE: Women's fencer Stephanie Turner's protest kneel against Redmond Sullivan will be her last memory on the strip, for a while.

The 31-year-old Maryland native is stepping away from the sport after being dealt a 12-month probation by USA Fencing over her recent refusal to fence Sullivan at the Cherry Blossom Open on March 30. 

Turner knelt on camera, refusing to fence because Sullivan is a trans athlete. Turner was then dealt a black card and escorted out. The footage of her kneeling sparked so much attention that it prompted a federal investigation into USA Fencing. 

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USA Fencing has now confirmed to Fox News Digital that Turner is under probation for the next 12 months after receiving a black card for the forfeit. She can still compete in events under the probation but is choosing not to.

"I'm going to be taking a break from fencing for a while in the U.S. circuit, so that's a little bit of a disruption for me… It has disrupted my training, it has disrupted my interactions when I go out in public, and it will certainly disrupt my competition because I won't be competing in the United States any time soon," she told Fox News Digital when asked if her expectation that taking the knee would "destroy her life," came true. 

Instead, Turner will focus on her new mission in the movement to ban trans athletes from women's sports.

"I will remain in the public eye for as long as it takes to resolve this," she said. 

WHO IS STEPHANIE TURNER? WOMEN'S FENCER WHO KNELT