Biden Judge Under Fire After Controversial Decision on Transgender Volleyball Player
Even after Donald Trump’s re-election victory, the trans wars aren’t going away.
A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden ruled Monday that a man claiming to be a woman will be allowed to play in a tournament for the women’s volleyball team for California’s San Jose State University — over the objections of the co-captain of the San Jose State team as well as other women who play for competing schools.
And the backlash has been ferocious.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, District Judge S. Kato Crews, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, ruled that San Jose Spartans volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser and other plaintiffs sought an emergency injunction in the case too late for the tournament, which tips off Wednesday.
Crews also ruled that schools that had forfeited matches against San Jose State rather than play against the male player would have their forfeits on their records as losses.
Those losses helped San Jose State win a No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Conference championship tournament, Fox News reported.
According to the Mercury News, the plaintiffs had wanted the male player — identified as “Blaire Fleming,” born Brayden Fleming to be banned from the tournament.
They also wanted the forfeit losses stricken from the record and the tournament standings recalibrated.
“The movants have failed to meet their burden to show irreparable harm, a likelihood of success on the merits, or that the balance of harms or equities is in their favor,” Crews wrote, according to Fox.
Women who play against Fleming might have a different perspective of “irreparable harm” from the one Crews does, sitting in his judicial chambers.
Female volleyball players taking on the Spartans have taken serious shots from “kill spikes” Fleming has slammed over the net.
It’s one thing to hear about the male advantage in volleyball: higher jumps, harder spikes, faster serves.
But it’s another thing to see it. Watch as male SJSU player Blaire Fleming dominates this women’s game—with a team-best 24 kills—on Saturday, 11/16.
We support… pic.twitter.com/W3dzKXJPNP
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) November 20, 2024
The teams that compete in the Mountain West Conference might have a different idea of “equities,” considering some have forfeited matches rather than play against a man.
And plenty of activists and social media users — including former collegiate swimming star Riley Gaines — were outraged by the decision:
A federal judge just ruled in favor of a male athlete who has been injuring defenseless women in volleyball for years.
It’s time to remove these activist judges who refuse to uphold the law as it was intended. https://t.co/BZPs71rx8x
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) November 25, 2024
We the people don’t want biological men in women’s sports & spaces. It’s being forced on society by activist judges, Big Media, multinational companies’ advertising (i.e. Bud Light), leftists in education indoctrinating children, etc.
We said HELL NO on Election Day!
— Rich Muny (@RichMuny) November 25, 2024
Pathetic weak judges are ruining sports. I hope every other team shows up for their match against SJSU and all the players just sit on the bench and refuse to play while he is on the court.
I don’t understand how any parent could let their daughter play for or against him. They…
— Just Dave (@drobjr813) November 25, 2024
Monday’s court decision is just the latest in an increasingly complicated story surrounding the San Jose State volleyball team.
In October, as the sports website Outkick reported, the team’s associate coach, Melissa Batie-Smoose, filed a Title IX complaint against the school, alleging that Fleming — the transgender player — had conspired with a Colorado State women’s volleyball player to not only fix a match between the two teams, but to have have Slusser targeted for injury during the competition.
According to Outkick, the conspiracy occurred after Slusser joined a lawsuit by women against the NCAA for letting men play in women’s sports.
In interview with Outkick published Sept. 30, Slusser said she was initially unaware that Fleming was actually a man.
Slusser transferred to San Jose State in fall of 2023, according to Outkick, and shared a residence with four teammates, including Fleming.
She said she played the 2023 season with Fleming, including sharing a residence and rooming with him on road trips, without being aware of his actual sex.
“At no point during her recruitment, nor during the 2023 season, was Slusser informed that a male athlete was on the team,” Outkick reported.
Slusser told the outlet the news was difficult to process.
“It was a really hard pill to swallow, because I couldn’t comprehend the fact that there was a man on the team, and it was almost as if I was in denial for a really long time that this was happening,” Slusser told Outkick. “So it was just really hard for me to wrap my head around.”
Batie-Smoose has been suspended indefinitely after filing a Title IX complaint.
On Saturday, Batie-Smoose told Fox News Harris Faulkner that she had no regrets about filing the complaint, and said “I just couldn’t take any more.”
Despite the controversy even within its own ranks, San Jose State issued a statement Monday expressing appreciation to Crews for his ruling.
“We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules,” the statement said, according to Fox. “Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week.”
In an interview published Friday by KTVU-TV in Oakland, Slusser said her concerns about Fleming’s presence on the volleyball court was a question of safety and fairness — even if Fleming is on her team.
“I just don’t think it’s right in women’s sports,” she said, according to the station.
“It has nothing to do with the way someone wants to live their life day to day, that’s not an issue. But when it comes to the fairness and safety of women playing, there’s a reason there’s two different divisions for women and men.”
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