Judge rejects request to suspend college volleyball player on grounds of being transgender

(AP) — A judge on Monday rejected 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.

The decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow a player who has played the entire season to compete in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship, which opens this week in Las Vegas.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the Mountain West Conference challenging the league’s policy of allowing transgender players to participate. Players argued that allowing her to compete was a safety risk and unfair.

While some media outlets have reported these and other details, neither San Jose State nor the teams that lost rights have confirmed that the school has a transgender female volleyball player. The Associated Press is not disclosing the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also declined a request to interview the player.

Crews’ ruling referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender” player and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State included a transgender woman on its roster.

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 participate under NCAA and conference rules. “We are pleased that the Court rejected the eleventh-hour attempt to change these rules. Our team is looking 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 a notice of urgent appeal with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Crews said the players who filed the complaint could have sought help much sooner, noting that individual universities have acknowledged that opting out of games against San Jose State this season would result in a loss in the league standings. He also rejected a request to reseed the tournament without refunding losses.

The judge said the injunctions are intended to maintain the status quo. The conference’s policy regarding incarceration for refusing to play against a team that has a transgender player has been in effect since 2022, and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022, making this the status quo.

The player had played at the college level for the previous three seasons, including two at San Jose State, without attracting much attention. The revelation of her identity this season has caused an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a crucial election year.

Crews’ ruling also said injunctions are intended to prevent harm, but in this case, he argued, the harm had already occurred. Games have been cancelled, the tournament has been seeded, teams have made travel plans and participants have confirmed they are playing.

The tournament will begin on Wednesday and continue on Friday and Saturday. Colorado State is seeded first and San Jose State is seeded second. The teams split their regular-season matchups and both advance to Friday’s semifinals.

San Jose State will play the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between Utah State and Boise State, teams that both lost regular-season games to SJSU. Boise State associate athletic director Chris Katz declined to comment on whether the Broncos would play SJSU if they win a game in the first round of the tournament. Utah officials did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The winner of the conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. San Jose State coach Todd Kress, whose team hasn’t made the national tournament since 2001, said his team has been receiving “hate messages” and it has taken a toll on his players.

Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official conference standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two fines, while Utah and Nevada each had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was the first to withdraw from its matchup with San Jose State this year.

Nevada players said they “refuse to participate in any match that promotes injustice against female athletes,” without elaborating. Nevada failed to qualify for the conference tournament.

The nine current players and others now suing the Mountain West Conference, the California State University Board of Regents and others include San Jose State senior setter and co-captain Brooke Slusser. Teammate Slusser said the transgender man hit a volleyball with more force than other team members, causing fears during practice of getting a concussion from hitting his head, the complaint states.

The Independent Women’s Sports Council is funding a separate lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing transgender women to participate in women’s sports.

Both lawsuits allege that the landmark 1972 federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX bars transgender women from participating in women’s sports. Title IX prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded education; Slusser is a plaintiff in both lawsuits.

Several district courts have used the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to conclude that discriminating against someone based on their transgender status or sexual orientation constitutes sex discrimination, Crews wrote. This means that case law does not prove the “likelihood of success” required to grant an injunction.

The NCAA’s policy that makes transgender participation subject to athletic governing body rules took effect this academic year. USA Volleyball says a trans woman must suppress her testosterone levels for 12 months before competing. The NCAA did not identify any problems with San Jose State.

Republican governors in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of canceling the teams, citing fairness in women’s sports. President-elect Donald Trump has also opposed allowing transgender women to compete 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.

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Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Hanson from Helena, Montana.

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