Exclusive: Brooke Slusser, 21, the women's volleyball captain at San Jose State University, admits she only became involved in politics in the past few years. But she made it a priority to vote a week early in her home state of Texas this year.
Slusser is currently facing a lawsuit against the NCAA for allegedly sharing a volleyball court, locker room, and room with teammates on an overnight trip without their knowledge that she was a transgender athlete, citing the NCAA's stance on gender ideology in women's sports. A lawsuit is being filed against the other party. She claims the team made a deliberate effort to hide the player's gender identity from her and his teammates.
And now she has reached the point where she believes a nationwide ban on transgender participation in women's and girls' sports is “necessary.” Former President Trump has made supporting the idea of banning transgender athletes from women's sports a key issue in his campaign for weeks, and Slusser expressed support for the idea in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. did.
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“I think it's completely necessary,” Slusser said of President Trump's proposed ban. “I don't think this should have been tolerated, it should have been legal and should not have been allowed to happen. And so many people know it's not right and for some reason still support it. I think they're deciding to do it, for whatever other reason they're doing it, and I think everyone knows in the back of their minds that it's not right, I mean, as long as SJSU If you have to hide something, you have to know that it's not right.”
Slusser also said she believes the issue of transgender inclusion in women's sports should be a political issue. Yet, she acknowledges that only one political party has consistently taken steps to oppose and stop this.
“One side of the party agrees with what I'm doing more than the other side, but there are still so many people on both sides of the party who agree with this,” Slusser said. “Mr. Trump is saying that if he were president, none of this would happen, it would just be banned. And these statements make President Trump more involved in politics and more visible. So President Trump is involved in politics, but he's actually involved in politics.''In the end, it has nothing to do with politics.
“One side is fighting, the other is choosing not to fight.”
Blair Fleming is a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, where she plays as an outside hitter and right-side hitter for the women's volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
Democratic lawmakers who previously voted in favor of legislation allowing transgender participation in women's sports publicly denounced their support for the concept in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Those Democrats include Texas Rep. Colin Allred, Texas Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and Alaska Rep. Peltola. Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, recently defended himself when weighed in on the issue by claiming he was never in favor of allowing biological males in women's sports.
“This is already banned in the state of Ohio,” Brown boasted in a campaign ad released in October.
Vice President Kamala Harris has not spoken extensively about her position on the issue since becoming the official Democratic nominee in July.
“It's very much up in the air for Democrats. I don't think anyone can predict what's going to happen with this. I think we can all assume at this point that not much will change,” Slusser said. “If Mr. Trump is elected, we will have more confidence that things will be handled the right way we want them to be handled.”
Slusser, a Texas native, began his collegiate career at Alabama in 2021 and transferred to San Jose State for the 2023 season. When I moved to California to play volleyball for the Spartans, I didn't want to move to a state like Texas or Alabama that has laws that protect, rather than limit, transgender participation in women's sports. , a first in her life and career as an athlete. .
The move to San Jose puts Slusser at the mercy of an administration heavily influenced by Democratic politics and a state that has better protections for transgender people than most states in the United States.
In the 2020 election cycle, 94.38% of contributions from San Jose State University employees went to Democratic candidates in federal elections, and 5.62% of contributions went to republican candidateaccording to data from open secret. The university is also one of many universities that have mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for students and staff.
California's Unruh Civil Rights Act classifies public schools as establishments of business, providing “equal facilities, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services” to “all persons without regard to sex.”
In Slusser's case, consideration for his transgender teammates ended up including a veil of secrecy about their birth gender. And Slusser's experience under all these circumstances was so traumatic that she claims she would not have transferred to San Jose State if she had it to do over again. She believes her transgender teammate Blair Fleming has been treated more favorably and protected than she and other teammates who are concerned about the situation.
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“I think everyone can tell that the people in my circle and the gym, they're not here to support me. They're here to support Blair, and they basically I decided to do whatever it took to continue to support Blair and to continue to support Blair and be there for me and my needs,'' Slusser said. “We decided we couldn't really trust anyone here.”
Slusser said he “doesn't feel safe” even playing under the current staff coach.
San Jose State University recently suspended associate volleyball head coach Melissa Batty Smooth. filed a Title IX complaint against San Jose State earlier this week, accusing the school of giving preferential treatment to Fleming at the expense of women on the team. Slusser said Batty-Smooth was the only coach in the program who supported her decision to join the lawsuit and advocate for protections for female athletes.
“After we found out she was released, a lot of the team was broken down and distraught, and even one of my teammates was like, 'I don't feel safe anymore,' because there's no one.” I feel like I can go and talk about my concerns and my actual feelings and actually speak freely in public,” Slusser said.
Slusser says it's not safe to talk to anyone else involved with the program, even head coach Todd Kress.
“You can't really voice how you feel without them trying to hide it or acting like it's okay. With Melissa, it's easy to put your feelings into words. “She's able to comfort you, acknowledge your feelings, or at least tell you how you feel,” Slusser said. “Compared to other coaches, you feel heard.” .
Cress previously said the tension that had arisen in the locker room over the current situation was “not a bad thing”, despite the potential impact on players' mental health.
“Sometimes tension isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I'm not saying there's tension, but when there's tension and there's conflict, I think good things come from conflict. I'm a person who believes in things. Things happen all the time and we work out our differences and work through them,'' Kress told reporters on Oct. 3.
But Slusser disagrees with his head coach.
“I have to agree with him on that point, but I feel like with certain people in the locker room you have to walk on eggshells. I don't agree with that,” Slusser said. “So we don't know what to do and are slowly becoming more and more angry about the situation.”
Fox News Digital reached out to San Jose State University for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
San Jose State has previously defended the program's roster as complying with NCAA rules.
“All of our athletes comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. We will continue to take steps to prioritize the health and safety of our students as we pursue opportunities,” read a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital.
The university has previously refused to publicly comment or acknowledge Fleming's gender assigned at birth.
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Slusser said he has not spoken to Fleming at all since joining the lawsuit. Slusser reflected on his interactions with Fleming before he learned of the player's birth gender, saying he regrets “opening up” to the trans player had he not known that Fleming was biologically male. I admitted that there was.
Now, looking ahead, Slusser has no plans to return to volleyball after this season. She also says the outcome of this election will influence the fate of her future daughters in organized women's sports.
“If my daughter knew that there was a man playing where she was supposed to be playing or that there was a man playing against her, she wouldn't be involved in that situation. Just knowing that, I would never allow something like that to happen to my daughter.'' I've been through it and I know it's not right, it's not fair, it's not safe. That's it,'' Slusser said when asked about the implications of a potential Harris victory.
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