From the "declarer" to the "double-dummy," the world of bridge is notorious for being full of words that make very little sense to people outside it. But when a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month held up a sign scribbled on the back of a menu during their victory ceremony, no one had any doubt about what they meant.

"We did not vote for Bush," read the scrawled, but entirely legible letters.

The genteel world of bridge was not amused. The New York Times reports that the women are facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for their spur-of-the-moment protest.

"This isn't a free-speech issue," said Jan Martel, president of the United States Bridge Federation. "There isn't any question that private organizations can control the speech of people who represent them."

Actually, yes there is, according to Danny Kleinman, a professional bridge player and columnist. "If the U.S.B.F. wants to impose conditions of membership that involve curtailment of free speech, then it cannot claim to represent our country in international competition," he said.

The fight between these two world views has spread throughout the international bridge community, with the French (naturally) coming out in support of the women.

"By trying to address these issues in a nonviolent, nonthreatening and lighthearted manner," the French team wrote to the federation's board, "you were doing only what women of the world have always tried to do when opposing the folly of men who have lost their perspective of reality."

Apparently no one in the federation thinks it was very "lighthearted." They're calling for a one-year suspension from federation events, a one-year probation after that suspension, 200 hours of community service "that furthers the interest of organized bridge" and an apology drafted by the federation's lawyer. They're also demanding the women write a statement telling "who broached the idea of displaying the sign, when the idea was adopted, etc."

Gain Greenberg, the team's nonplaying captain, said she decided to put up the sign in response to question from players from other countries about American interrogation techniques, the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues.

"There was a lot of anti-Bush feeling, questioning of our Iraq policy and about torture," she said. "There wasn't the amount of warmth you usually feel at these events."