A federal judge ruled Monday that a transgender volleyball player at San Jose State University can continue to compete on the women's team.
The decision by Colorado U.S. District Court Judge S. Cato Cruz came two days before San Jose State was scheduled to compete in a conference tournament featuring six other schools, four of which were the Spartans. He had withdrawn from the previous match. .
Current and former players from five other universities in the Mountain West Conference, a sports conference in which San Jose State is a member, requested in a Nov. 13 lawsuit that the athlete be barred from competition. . The players, who were joined by San Jose State's current co-captain and recently suspended assistant coach, argued that doing otherwise would violate their rights under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. .
The lawsuit also reverses the conference's policy of winning, losing, and forfeiting when a team has a transgender player, denying San Jose State a regular-season championship that resulted from other teams refusing to play the school. He also asked for it to be cancelled.
None of the Mountain West teams that forfeited games against San Jose State this season have explicitly stated why, but players at the University of Nevada, Reno held a rally on Oct. 26 to discuss the importance of women's sports. He advocated the exclusion of transgender athletes.
Nevada female volleyball players told Outkick In early October, they voted to cancel a game against San Jose State University because they “refuse to participate in any game that promotes injustice against female athletes.” The school said after a vote of players that the decision was made without consulting the university or athletic department and that it “intends to proceed with the game as scheduled.” The school was then forced to withdraw because it did not have enough players.
The San Jose State University player, who has played on the school's women's volleyball team for the past three seasons, has not spoken publicly about her identity, nor has the university commented on her identity. However, according to Cruz's ruling, the defendants did not dispute the presence of a transgender woman on the team.
Cruz, an appointee of President Biden, said Monday that appellate court and Supreme Court precedents have established that Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to transgender individuals. wrote that the chances of winning the case are low. He added that the emergency motion was unnecessary because the council's transgender policy was implemented in 2022.
“The court finds that the delay on the part of the plaintiffs was unreasonable, there is no evidence to suggest that it precluded it from seeking emergency relief sooner, and it is currently unable to litigate these complex issues for mandatory injunctions. The rush is putting a heavier burden on the plaintiffs.” [Mountain West Conference] At the 11th hour,” Cruz wrote.
San Jose State said in an emailed statement that it “continues to support our student-athletes and rejects all forms of discrimination.”
“All student-athletes at San Jose State University are eligible to participate in sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference regulations,” the university said. “We are pleased that the court rejected our 11th-hour attempt to change these rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West Volleyball Tournament this week.”
The California State University System, which includes San Jose State University, praised Monday's ruling and said it “does not tolerate discrimination of any kind, on or off the court.” The Mountain West Conference said it was “pleased” with the decision.
The plaintiffs are appealing Cruz's ruling. lawyer william bock told ESPN On Monday, the players plan to ask the court to “protect our women's volleyball players as they attempt to compete for a conference championship.”
San Jose State has been at the center of an escalating debate over transgender athletes since Southern Utah University refused to play at the school in September.
During a taped town hall attended exclusively by female voters in Cumming, Ga., in October, President-elect Trump referenced a viral video of a San Jose State University player spiking an opponent for the ball. “I've never seen a ball hit this hard,” he said.
in Letter of November 18th Thirteen Republican senators and representatives asked the Mountain West Conference chairman to update the conference's guidelines barring transgender women from competing on women's sports teams.
“It's not fair to allow biological males to participate in women's sports. It's not fair,” they wrote. “Obviously the Mountain West Conference dropped the ball.”
