On Monday, a federal judge decided that a member of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team who is at the center of the debate around transgender athletes is permitted to play in this week’s conference championship.
The emergency application for a preliminary injunction against the Mountain West Conference, which was filed this month, was refused by Judge S. Kato Crews of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
According to the news site, Brooke Slusser, the co-captain of San Jose, and ten athletes from other schools were among the plaintiffs in the case that preceded the emergency motion. They claimed that their Title IX rights were being infringed by permitting the athlete to play for a women’s sports team.
The player’s participation in the conference tournament was to be barred by the 132-page lawsuit.
The conference’s policy that determines wins, losses, and forfeits if a member of a non-canceling team has a transgender player was also to be revoked. Additionally, the emergency motion sought to revoke SJSU’s victories and losses against teams that declined to play SJSU, recalculate winning percentages based on games from earlier this season that some teams forfeited, and apply the new calculations and seedings to the conference tournament that starts on Wednesday.
Instead of playing SJSU, a number of conference teams have forfeited the games.
SJSU has not acknowledged that one of their players is transgender, and the player—whom NBC News is not naming—has never made public statements.
According to the judge’s decision on Monday, teams that had already forfeited done so knowing the conference’s 2022 transgender policy, therefore the emergency request was unnecessary and a last-minute burden for the conference.
Depending on the outcome of any reseeding, the relief sought in the Emergency Motion would, at the at least, prejudice the defendants and other teams competing in the tournament and run the danger of confusing matters and upsetting months of preparation. “Overall, the MWC’s interest in holding and moving forward with the tournament as scheduled is favored by the equity,” the ruling stated.
Noting that it is difficult to discriminate against someone based on their transgender status without discriminating against them based on their sex, the judge also referenced other legislation and earlier decisions.
San Jose State applauded the judge’s ruling in a statement on Monday.
“San Jos State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms,” said a university statement. “All San Jos State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules.”
According to the Mountain West Conference, the suit’s accusations are being taken seriously.
According to a statement from the organization, the Mountain West Conference places a high priority on the welfare of its student-athletes and takes great care to follow NCAA and MW regulations. We take seriously all concerns regarding the welfare and fairness of student-athletes, even though we are unable to comment on the ongoing litigation in this specific case.
Several teams postponed their games against San Jose State last month, including the University of Nevada, Reno, which did so on October 24 due to a lack of players.
Without giving any more information, Nevada athletes declared that they would not “participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.” Citing state equality regulations, the school’s athletic department declared that it would not withdraw from the game, but it also stated that no participants would face disciplinary action.
In a joint statement, the teams stated that the game was moved to San Jose, California, for the benefit of both programs. They provided no other justification until Nevada decided to forfeit.
Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming, and Southern Utah all postponed games against their conference rivals earlier this season.
After it was revealed that a trans student played on the women’s volleyball team, a group of over a dozen Republican lawmakers requested the Mountain West to prohibit transgender women from competing this month.
Republican senators and representatives accused the Mountain West Conference of violating Title IX’s protections against sex discrimination and failing to achieve its own gender equity requirements in a letter delivered to the conference’s commissioner on November 18.
According to the letter, allowing biological men to participate in women’s sports is unfair and unequal. According to these rules, it makes sense for biological males to participate in men’s sports and females in women’s sports.
It goes on to say that the Mountain West Conference has obviously made a mistake.
Senators Mitt Romney and Mike Lee, along with Representatives John Curtis, Blake Moore, Burgess Owens, and Celeste Maloy of Utah; Senators Mike Crapo and James Risch, along with Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson of Idaho; and Senator John Barrasso, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, and Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, were among the GOP lawmakers.
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