Female athletes Stephanie Turner and Payton McNabb recently testified before Congress at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee’s hearing titled “Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” According to Fox News, the session, intended to address the inclusion of trans athletes in women’s sports, quickly became contentious.
During the hearing, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) approached Turner and McNabb, commending them for their courage, according to Turner. However, Turner reportedly did not find the interaction to be well-intentioned considering Crockett’s earlier remarks. Turner criticized Crockett for diverting the discussion away from the main issue and using the hearing to make political statements unrelated to women’s sports. Crockett even introduced a game called “Trump or Trans,” which Turner and McNabb found disrespectful and dismissive of their concerns.
“‘You’re both very courageous. You’re very courageous being here, and I want to say thank you for all of this,'” Crockett said to the two women, Turner reportedly told Fox News Digital.
“And I said ‘Payton and I both took time out of our day to be there, and I find it very disrespectful that you would co-opt this hearing that is about me and Payton and make it about your own politics.’”
McNabb, who suffered a permanent brain injury after being hit by a trans athlete during a high school volleyball match, was particularly disturbed by comments from Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. Goss Graves suggested that banning spiking in volleyball, rather than addressing trans athlete participation, was the answer to preventing similar injuries. McNabb called this response “ridiculous,” emphasizing that her injury resulted from playing against a biological male.
Turner, who made headlines for refusing to compete against a trans opponent in fencing and was subsequently penalized, also took issue with remarks from Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.). Simon suggested that efforts to protect women’s sports could lead to racial segregation and disproportionately affect black women. Turner, herself a black woman, strongly disagreed, calling the comparison offensive and inaccurate.
“I find that, as a Black woman myself, to be quite offensive,” Turner said. “I find it offensive because they lead with this statement ‘as a Black woman, I’m a Black woman.’ Well, I’m a Black woman, I was born in Washington D.C., I was raised in one of the bluest parts of America in Montgomery County, Maryland, and no, I don’t agree with you, that’s wrong.”
The hearing also marked Turner’s first encounter with USA Fencing chair Damien Lehfeldt since her protest. Despite being pressed by Republican committee members, Lehfeldt refused to apologize for the organization’s handling of Turner’s case. Turner stated she would not have accepted an apology without meaningful policy changes.
“An apology is just empty words without actions,” Turner said.
Looking ahead, Turner said her focus is on pushing USA Fencing to revise its gender eligibility rules to better protect female athletes. The organization has indicated it may be forced to alter its current policies, which allow biological males to compete in women’s events, depending on future developments. Meanwhile, the Department of Education’s Title IX investigations team is now looking into Turner’s case.