Volleyball players sue Mountain West Conference over trans inclusion policy
San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team has seen rival squads forfeit matches. (Getty)
San Jose State University’s (SJSU) trans row continues with the volleyball team caption Brooke Slusser demanding that an alleged trans player be declared ineligible for a championship game later this month.
Slusser, along with two former SJSU Spartans players and athletes from four other universities, have now filed a lawsuit against SJSU officials and Mountain West conference, the league the team plays in, for allowing the athlete to participate in games.
The lawsuit alleges that SJSU and Mountain West Conference are violating Title IX rules and First Amendement rights by adopting a “transgender participation policy”.
The suit, which is backed by the Independent Council on Women’s Sport, comes weeks before a conference tournament is set to begin in Las Vegas, in which SJSU is supposed to compete.
Bill Bock, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, 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.”
The suit also claims that their transgender inclusion policy was “intended to chill and suppress the free speech rights of women athletes” competing in the Mountain West Conference, and allege that the new policy was adopted to prevent other schools from forfeiting games against SJSU in relation to playing against a trans player.
A total of five university women’s volleyball teams have withdrawn from a total of six games against SJSU in recent weeks, citing the safety risks of playing against a trans player.
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction to the policy before the tournament begins on November 27 and is demanding either the disqualification of SJSU as a whole or the disqualification of the player in question so that she is ineligible to play.
It also asks for the losses of the teams who previously forfeited to be removed, which would bring the Spartans down in the league table to sixth place from where it currently sits in second place.
Slusser previously praised the University of Nevada, Reno’s decision not to compete, saying it was a “great step in the right direction for women’s sports”.
She also claimed that the alleged trans teammate was more forceful when hitting the ball than others and that she was afraid of suffering concussions. There has been no reports of any significant injuries to anyone on either side of the net during matches or practices since said player joined the team.
Responding to news of the suit, a spokesperson for Mountain West Conference told 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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