The controversy surrounding women's sports is no longer theoretical, and it's no longer acceptable for female athletes to be the ones forced to draw the line, Independent Council on Women's Sports co-founder Kim Jones told Newsmax Wednesday.
"This has got to stop there," Jones said on "National Report" regarding the case of fencer Stephanie Turner, who was placed on a 12-month probation by USA Fencing after she took a knee rather than compete against Redmond Sullivan, a 20-year-old athlete born biologically male, during a match last March.
"It cannot fall upon the shoulders of young girls and women to stand up for themselves."
Jones argued that Turner's decision, whatever one thinks of it, highlights a deeper failure of leadership in athletics and education. Instead of expecting teenage girls and adult women to speak up at personal and professional risk, Jones said the people in charge should be doing their jobs.
"I mean, we've got coaches and we have whole committees and leadership organizations, national governing bodies, you know, politicians, administrative leaders at schools across the country," she said.
According to Jones, those officials are tasked with ensuring fairness, safety, and equal opportunity, especially for female athletes. But in this debate, she said, too many of them have remained quiet.
"And they're the ones that are supposed to be making sure that girls are not mistreated, that women have equal rights and opportunities and are not to be told to step aside by men," she continued.
Jones said the lack of decisive action has created an environment where female athletes feel pressured to accept policies they believe are unfair — or face consequences if they object.
"The silence of that leadership is deafening," she said.
Jones said women should not be forced into public protest simply to preserve the integrity of female competition, calling for clearer standards and accountability from governing bodies.
"So it needs to stop. And no longer," she added.
She also said Turner's kneeling protest should never become the norm.
"There should never be another woman that needs to put a knee down to say, 'I shouldn't have to be facing a male athlete on the other side at any age,'" Jones said.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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