The men's players will be allowed to compete in the Mountain West Conference tournament after a U.S. district judge denied a motion to disqualify the players.
That player is Blair Fleming, a transgender athlete at San Jose State University. Fleming, a Bladen native, is a 6'1″ man who has been suspended five times by opposing teams for playing in NCAA women's volleyball games.
About a week before the judge's ruling, 11 NCAA female athletes and one coach announced a new “transgender participation policy” aimed at “suppressing the free speech rights of female athletes.” filed a lawsuit against MWC and SJSU for being subject to the . ”
Judge S. Kato Cruz, appointed by President Joe Biden, filed a series of motions seeking to disqualify Fleming from playing in the conference and to nullify losses suffered by other teams by forfeiting a game against SJSU during the season. Rejected.
“Plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm.”
According to out kickthe judge spent the first 30 minutes of the emergency hearing considering which pronouns to use when talking about Fleming.
Judge Cruz ultimately ruled that “plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm, likelihood of success on the merits, or that the balance of damages or fairness favors them.” was lowered.
“The threat of harm to Plaintiffs in the event of an injunction is outweighed by MWC's interest in hosting the next MWC Tournament without making eleventh-hour changes to its currently planned structure.” the judge wrote. “The relief requested in the emergency motion threatens to be disruptive, derail months of planning, and, depending on the outcome of the reseeding, could adversely affect, at a minimum, Defendants and other teams participating in the tournament. ”
“Movants have failed to meet their burden of showing irreparable harm, justifying the denial of the emergency motion and USU's partial participation in the motion,” Judge Cruz also wrote.
After the ruling, the plaintiffs announced they would file an emergency appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking an emergency injunction.
The transgender participation policy at the center of the lawsuit states that the NCAA “will not entertain inquiries or challenges regarding the eligibility of transgender student-athletes.” Schools are also not required to provide information to opponents about whether they have transgender players on their teams.
SJSU has remained largely silent during the controversy, but has suspended one female coach who spoke out on the issue. Associate head volleyball coach Melissa Batty Smooth subsequently joined the lawsuit against MWC and SJSU.
Similarly, it was previously revealed that SJSU was seeking payment from other schools for losses allegedly suffered by SJSU due to forfeiture.
if MWC Tournament The game will go ahead as scheduled, with SJSU playing either Utah State or Boise State on March 4th. Both teams had forfeits against them during the season.
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