Three universities forfeit volleyball tournament because of alleged trans players

The University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team just announced that they will forfeit their upcoming match against the San José State University women’s volleyball team because San José reportedly has a transgender player. They are the third team to do so recently, and pressure from politicians and a lawsuit may have played a role in their decision.

The forfeit contradicts the University of Wyoming’s earlier statement that it would go ahead with the match after discussions with the San Jose team’s staff. The University of Wyoming did not say what led to the change in its team’s decision.

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“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference game against San José State University on Saturday, October 5, at the UniWyo Sports Complex,” Nick Seeman, assistant athletics director for the University of Wyoming, wrote in a statement. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the game as a forfeit and a loss to Wyoming.”

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This is the third team to forfeit a game against San Jose due to allegations that there is a transgender player on the team. This forfeiture, along with the other two – from Boise State University and Southern Utah University – comes in response to a lawsuit filed by anti-trans activist Riley Gaines. This lawsuit, which was later joined by a player on the San José team, Brooke Slusser, alleges that teammate and Slusser’s roommate Blaire Fleming is a transgender woman.

Lawmakers in Wyoming applied additional pressure by circulating a letter ordering the state university to forfeit the game.

“The Legislature has been very clear that the University of Wyoming, as a publicly funded land-grant institution, should not participate in the extremist agenda of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or promote the lie that biological sex can be determined changed,” the letter said. , distributed by Senator Cheri Steinmetz (R), states. “We all know this is not possible.”

Fleming has chosen not to make public comments about her gender identity, and she remains a private citizen. She also reportedly did not reveal any additional details about her identity to her team.

Gaines’ lawsuit claims that by existing as a trans woman and living with cis women, Fleming has violated Slusser’s privacy and caused “physical and emotional injuries.” The lawsuit provides little explanation about the tangible harm of a trans woman in women’s sports.

The lawsuit also claims that Fleming is one of the team’s better performers, stating that she has the team’s second-highest number of kills – a term referring to an unreturned attack that scores a point against the other team – and that they spike the ball at “80 miles per hour.”

For Fleming to nail a ball that quickly, she would have to perform better than the top women’s Olympic athletes, and she would score higher than many of the top men’s Olympic athletes.

Fleming has been playing for more than two years. If she were a trans woman, in order to compete in women’s volleyball, she would have to have a testosterone level equivalent to that of a cis woman, and be tested repeatedly.

“Athletics should be about promoting teamwork, growth and healthy competition – not about discrimination and exclusion,” Wyoming Equality said in a statement about the incident. “We believe that every athlete, including transgender athletes, deserves the opportunity to compete and play the sports they love. This is personal for me, as the first transgender athlete at UW I experienced the best of Wyoming: a focus on sports, not politics. Taking away opportunities to compete hurts all athletes.”

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