“At no point during Brooke’s recruitment [to San Jose State University] from the University of Alabama or during the 2023 volleyball season … did either SJSU or [the transgender teammate] advise Brooke that [her teammate] is a male, even though it was known to SJSU that Brooke was rooming with [the transgender teammate],” the lawsuit alleges.
San Jose State University is continuing to attract scrutiny after one of its own athletes joined a lawsuit challenging NCAA rules on the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports.
According to KQED, a wave of women’s volleyball teams have forfeited games to San Jose after learning that one of its best players is transgender. The University of Wyoming is the latest to have announced its decision to stand down, with teams from Boise State University and Southern Utah University having pulled out of scheduled games in September.
“I am in full support of the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State,” Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. “It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletes.”
San Jose State University’s volleyball team is currently undefeated, with a 9-0 season record.
However, the team’s success has no deterred concerns about fairness from some of its own players. Last month, San Jose State women’s volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a student-athlete-led lawsuit against the NCAA. In the amended complaint, Slusser says that she has been required to room with a transgender teammate, who allegedly “repeatedly misgenders [Slusser].”
“At no point during Brooke’s recruitment [to San Jose State University] from the University of Alabama or during the 2023 volleyball season … did either SJSU or [the transgender teammate] advise Brooke that [her teammate] is a male, even though it was known to SJSU that Brooke was rooming with [the transgender teammate],” the lawsuit alleges.
Slusser says that she only found out that her roommate was transgender after she overheard a conversation between two other students, neither of whom were members of the volleyball team.
Upon overhearing the remark, Slusser interrupted the conversion, asked for clarification, and was told that her teammate “is a ‘dude.’”
“Brooke was surprised to learn [her teammate] is male, although this was consistent with Brooke’s observation that [her teammate] played volleyball with jumping ability and power that surpassed any girl on the team,” the lawsuit claims. “As [the transgender teammate] had not informed Brooke that he was male or transgender, and as the SJSU’s volleyball team coaches had not told the team that [the teammate] was male, Brooke was initially unsure about how to proceed with this new information.”
The amended complaint notes that Slusser’s teammate did eventually “come out,” with Slusser saying that “she did not want [the teammate] to be bullied, [but] … questioned whether it was safe or fair for the other women on the team and for opposing teams.”
Attorneys for Slusser and other plaintiffs state that, during team practices, the teammate could hit and spike balls at speeds “upwards of 80 miles per hour … faster than [Slusser] had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball.” This purportedly raised concerns that a woman hit by such a ball could sustain a concussion or be otherwise seriously injured.
Shortly afterward, university officials allegedly “convened a meeting” with members of the women’s volleyball team, telling student-athletes that they were not permitted to “speak with others outside the team about any safety or privacy concerns that were relating to [the teammate] being male and playing on the SJSU team.”
“The members of the SJSU team were told that [the transgender teammate’s] participation on the SJSU women’s team was required by NCAA rules an that due to the NCAA rules SJSU had no discretion or ability to prevent Fleming from participating on the SJSU women’s team and that SJSU was prevented by NCAA rules from treating Fleming differently in any manner from the other women’s team members,” the lawsuit alleges.
Michelle Smith McDonald, a spokesperson for the university, has since clarified that the women’s volleyball team is in compliance with NCAA rules and Mountain West Conference regulations.
McDonald also expressed disappointment that other schools have pulled out of scheduled games.
“It is disappointing that our SJSU student-athletes … are being denied opportunities to compete,” McDonald said. “We are committed to supporting our student-athletes through these challenges and in their ability to compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”
Some LGBTQ advocates have said that the sorts of complaints being levied against San Jose State and Slusser’s transgender teammate are indicative of gender-driven discrimination.
“[Pulling out of games] is doubling down on a policy of discrimination instead of fostering what we should be fostering as part of our athletics, which is camaraderie and competition,” said Equality California spokesperson Tom Temprano. “Instead, we’re centering these divisive values and discriminatory actions, which I would imagine the vast, vast majority of these student-athletes are unhappy with and would be opposed to.”
Sources
2 schools forfeit games against SJSU volleyball amid lawsuit over player’s gender
Lawsuit over transgender San Jose State athlete
SJSU Volleyball Gets Police Security Amid Apparent Protest Over Transgender Athlete Rules
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