A judge on Monday denied a request to ban a member of the San Jose State women’s volleyball team from participating in a conference tournament on the grounds that she is transgender.
Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver gives the player, who has played all season, the opportunity to play in this week’s opening Mountain West Conference women’s championship in Las Vegas.
Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
The verdict comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league’s policy of allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that it was a safety risk and unfair to allow her to compete.
Although some media outlets have reported these and other details, neither San Jose State nor the teams that paid the fine have confirmed that the school has a transfeminine volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also declined an interview request with the player.
Crews’ ruling referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender player” and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State’s roster includes a transgender female player.
San Jose State will “continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms,” the university said in a statement, confirming that all of its student-athletes are eligible to compete under NCAA and conference rules. “We are pleased that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week.”
The conference did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The players filed an emergency appeal with the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have asked for relief much sooner, noting that the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in the standings. He also refused a request to reseed the tournament without the losses.
The judge said orders are intended to maintain the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiture for refusing to play a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 – making that the status quo.
The player played three previous seasons at the college level, including two for San Jose State, and attracted little attention. Awareness of her reported identity this season sparked an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a key election year.
Crews’ ruling also said orders are intended to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm has already occurred. The games have been canceled, the tournament has been posted, the teams have made travel plans and the participants have confirmed that they will play.
The tournament starts on Wednesday and continues on Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State is seeded second. The teams divide their matches in the regular season and both advance to Friday’s semifinals.
The winner of the conference tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team has not played in the national tournament since 2001, has said his team has received “messages of hate” and it has taken a toll on his players.
Different teams declined to play against San Jose State during the seasoncausing losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits, while Utah State and Nevada each had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was the first to lose this year against San Jose State.
Nevada’s players said they “refuse to participate in any competition that promotes injustice against female athletes,” without elaborating. Nevada did not qualify for the conference tournament.
The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Trustees and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. Teammate Slusser says the transgender woman hits the volleyball with more force than others on the team, raising fears during practices that he might suffer a concussion from a blow to the head, according to the complaint.
The Independent Council for Women’s Sport is fund a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to participate in women’s sports.
Both lawsuits allege that the landmark 1972 anti-discrimination law known as Title IX bans transgender women from women’s sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is the plaintiff in both lawsuits.
Several courts have used a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation is sex discrimination, Crews wrote. That means that case law does not prove the ‘likelihood of success’ necessary to issue a ban.
This academic year, an NCAA policy is in effect that subjects transgender participation to the rules of sports governing bodies. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress testosterone for 12 months before competing. The NCAA has reported no issues with San Jose State.
The Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the team cancellations, citing fairness in women’s sports. President-elect Donald Trump has also spoken out against allowing transgender women to participate in women’s sports.
Crews served as a magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court in Colorado for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him as a federal judge in January.
