A new court ruling will allow a transgender-identifying male athlete to compete for San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team in the upcoming Mountain West Conference tournament this week, despite the protestations of female athletes in the league.
Colorado judge S. Kato Crews, who was appointed by President Biden, denied a motion for injunctive relief on Monday that sought to stop Blaire Fleming from participating in the conference tournament because he possesses inherent biological advantages over his female counterparts, sports website OutKick reported. The emergency request was part of a lawsuit filed by Fleming’s teammate, Brooke Slusser, and other plaintiffs.
“The movants have failed to meet their burden to show irreparable harm, a likelihood of success on the merits, or that the balance of harms or equities is in their favor,” Crews wrote, ruling against the plaintiffs.
The San Jose State women’s volleyball team is currently the second-best team competing in the Mountain West Conference, primarily due to Fleming’s inclusion on the team. Because of the transgender-identifying player, numerous other schools were forced to forfeit games this fall.
Boise State University, the University of Wyoming, Utah State University, and the University of Nevada, Reno were among those that canceled upcoming games against San Jose State. The judge ruled those forfeits will remain losses.
“The relief requested with the Emergency Motion would risk confusion and upend months of planning and would prejudice, at a minimum, Defendants and other teams participating in the tournament depending on the results of any reseeding,” Crews wrote. He added the tournament, which starts Wednesday and ends Saturday, will proceed.
Slusser was one of many female volleyball players that sought legal action against the Mountain West Conference to prevent Fleming from competing any further. Utah State also joined the motion for injunctive relief, arguing the collegiate athletic conference’s Transgender Participation Policy violates Title IX.
The Biden-appointed judge rejected Utah State’s attempt to intervene in the case because it did not demonstrate “irreparable harm.”
Regarding Title IX, Crews ruled that the civil-rights law must protect transgender people. The Biden administration recently expanded Title IX to prohibit discrimination based not only on sex but also gender identity. The law was originally designed to protect women in schools that receive federal funding.
Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who has been outspoken about biological males participating in women’s sports after she competed against one herself, denounced Monday’s ruling.
“A federal judge just ruled in favor of a male athlete who has been injuring defenseless women in volleyball for years,” Gaines posted on X. “It’s time to remove these activist judges who refuse to uphold the law as it was intended.”
Utah State faces Boise State in the opening round of the conference tournament, according to the Mountain West Conference tournament’s planned bracket. The victor will then face San Jose State and Fleming on the court. It remains to be seen whether Utah State or Boise State, two of the four teams that previously forfeited, will opt not to play against San Jose State in another premature loss.
Amid the controversy, an associate head coach for the San Jose team was suspended indefinitely after she filed a Title IX complaint against her employer. The coach, Melissa Batie-Smoose, alleged Fleming conspired with an opponent to make his team lose a match and to attempt to injure Slusser.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Batie-Smoose claimed the university tried to silence her on the issue.
“I just couldn’t take any more,” she said, noting how Slusser, who serves as the team co-captain, spoke out about the issue. “Speaking out for her rights and that they continued to treat the young women on the team and myself poorly for having our thoughts and opinions, and they were told to us like, we can’t have those.”
The coach said speaking out about the male athlete’s presence on the team is simply “common sense” to her.
“There should not be biological men playing in women’s sports,” Batie-Smoose continued. “But we are here right now. And I do think this, you know, is an opportunity for me. It’s nothing that we all sign up for. But I definitely feel so strong that, you know, that moving forward with this and helping this fight and making sure we save women’s sports for the future of young women, my nieces, my grandchildren, is very important.”