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(SRN NEWS) – USA Fencing has disqualified a fencer from a women’s tournament in Maryland after she refused to face an opponent who is a man.  Stephanie Turner was competing in a USA Fencing-sanctioned regional tournament at the University of Maryland.  Online video shows her taking a knee in protest before her match and then being shown a black card by an official and disqualified from the remainder of the event.  Turner tells Fox News “I told them that I’m a woman, and this is a women’s tournament, and I refuse to fence on principle.” 

A federal judge has denied a motion to stop the National Endowment for the Arts from barring funds to artists whose projects promote gender ideology, saying that the agency is no longer doing that.  Four arts groups sued the NEA last month, seeking a preliminary injunction over what they said were violations of the First Amendment. The requirements were initially added to grant application forms, following an executive order from President Trump.  Judge William Smith pointed out that the NEA rescinded the gender ideology ban about a week after the lawsuit was filed. 

Now that each individual state has to decide how to handle abortion, the make-up of each state’s supreme court is coming under scrutiny.  There are also debates about how to select supreme court justices.  Seven states use partisan elections while 14 use nonpartisan ones.  Meanwhile, nine states task governors with appointing justices, two use legislative appointments, four have hybrid models and 14 use a merit selection process that often involves nonpartisan nominating commissions.  Supreme court elections now attract a lot of outside money. 

The American Library Association has unveiled the 10 most challenged books of 2024 and the list demonstrates parents’ growing concern about efforts to promote the LGBT agenda amongst small children and adolescents.  Topping the list is George M. Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue” which is an autobiographical work about the author’s homosexuality.  Number two on the list is Maia Kobabe’s (MY-uh  koh-BAH-bee’s) “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel which features pornographic images.  Despite parents’ concerns, none of the books have been banned and all are readily available for purchase.