The players on San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team are now suing their team’s head coach, university, and Mountain West (MW) Conference officials for allowing a transgender woman to play on their team. Five teams have recently tried to forfeit their matches with the team because of the trans player.
Brooke Slusser, the team captain, is leading the suit along with two other former players on the SJSU team and four athletes from other universities. They allege that their Title IX and First Amendment rights were violated due to allowing a trans woman to play on their college team.
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The suit is backed by the Independent Council on Women’s Sport. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Bill Bock, said, “The NCAA, Mountain West Conference, and college athletic directors around the country are failing women. Because the administrators don’t have the courage to do their jobs, we have to ask the federal courts to do their jobs for them.”
A Mountain West spokesperson told the right-leaning sports site OutKick, “The Mountain West Conference prioritizes the best interests of our student-athletes and takes great care to adhere to NCAA and MW policies. While we are unable to comment on the pending litigation of this particular situation, we take seriously all concerns of student-athlete welfare and fairness.”
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The players oppose the transgender inclusion policy at the university, claiming it stifles “free speech rights of women’s athletes.”
The lawsuit demands an injunction be placed on the trans-inclusive policies before a November 27 tournament, and demands that either SJSU as a whole be disqualified or the player in question be disqualified, citing “safety risks.” It also asks for the losses of teams who forfeited to be removed.
The transgender player in question has not come forward to the press, and contrary to claims that the player poses “safety risks,” there is no evidence that anyone has been injured as a result of her playing on the sports team.
Schools that chose to forfeit against San Jose State for allegedly having a trans female player include Southern Utah University, Boise State University, Utah State University, and Wyoming University.
The player in question has been playing for three seasons now without issues with her participation. She has been compliant with NCAA requirements for testosterone levels throughout this entire period, and has never violated the requirements. There is no evidence of discrimination against cisgender female athletes due to her participation.
Todd Kress, coach of the San Jose State University team, said that his team has dealt with hate mail as a result of the publicity over the teammate.
“Some of it, to be honest, is disgusting. I’m more worried about our student-athletes and what they receive and how that’s impacting their mental health,” Kress told local media.
“There have been outside forces who have sought to divide our team, our university, our conference and our sport,” Kress added. “I know it’s been weighing on the players in our locker room who have put in years of hard work. We have an incredible group of young women who are trying to put the controversy aside. I just have faith that we’ll eventually be able to put the outside noise aside and be able to play for each other and find love for one another again.”
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