Female volleyball players who feel ‘unsafe’ about trans player lose challenge to Biden judge’s ‘disgraceful’ decision

An emergency appeal of a Biden-appointed judge’s decision to allow a trans athlete to compete in the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament was denied Tuesday.

Colorado State District Judge Kato Crews ruled Monday that San Jose State senior Blair Fleming, who has been identified as a natural male in multiple lawsuits, is eligible to compete after several players challenged Fleming to not be allowed to play in Las Vegas this week.

The Independent Council of Women’s Sports (ICONS) filed an emergency appeal of the decision with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. But the 10th Circuit agreed with Crews’ decision, in a decision released Tuesday afternoon. The staff rejected a request for an emergency stay, finding players and others challenging the league’s policy of allowing transgender athletes to participate should have filed an appeal earlier.

NCAA women’s volleyball players Brooke Slusser, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk are all named in the complaint and the request for Fleming’s removal. Slusser is Fleming’s San Jose State teammate, and alleges he was made to share living quarters and changing rooms with Fleming while the university withheld Fleming’s natural sexuality from Slusser and other players on the team.

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“It is a shame that the administration in the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA are not willing to do their job, which is to protect fair competition and the safety of athletes competing in college sports. However, because Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and NCAA President Charlie Baker will not do their job and clearly is afraid to fight for the rights of female runners, we are forced to ask the state courts to do their jobs for them,” said the counselor of ICOS legal Bill Bock.

San Jose State provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying the university was “pleased” with Crews’ decision.

“San José State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination of any kind. All San José State University athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules. We are pleased that the Court rejected the attempt of the eleventh hour to change those laws,” the statement reads.

Biden’s nomination was controversial during his administration. By the end of his first year in office, Biden had nominated 73 people to federal judges, one more than Donald Trump during the same period of his presidency.

Crew was one of Biden’s nominees who was confirmed, and ended up presiding over the case. During the hearing last Thursday, Crews spent the first 45 minutes of the hearing discussing which pronouns should be used when referring to Fleming or whether the player’s name should be used for safety and security reasons.

However, safety has been a concern for Fleming’s female teammates.

Slusser previously told Fox News Digital that the situation involving Fleming and the athlete’s protections by San Jose State and their sports governing bodies left him and his teammates feeling “unsafe,” and even led to moments where players cried.

“I think anyone can see that in my circle and at the gym that they’re not there to support me. They’re here to support Blaire, and they’ve decided that they’re really going to do anything to continue to support Blaire and she’s not there. I have my own needs,” Slusser said. “I’ve decided that you can’t really trust anyone.” here.”

San Jose State has suspended head volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who filed a Title IX complaint against the school alleging San Jose State showed favoritism to Fleming at the expense of women on the team.

SJSU WOMEN’S FIRST PLAYER WHO DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT A TRASN PLAYER, PROPOSES A GAME THAT ISN’T GOING TO HAPPEN.

“After we found out that he was released, a lot of the team just broke down and just freaked out, even one of my colleagues was saying, ‘I don’t feel safe anymore,’ because there’s nobody. now that we feel like we can go talk about our concerns or our real feelings and we can talk freely in front of them,” Slusser said.

Slusser says he doesn’t feel safe talking to anyone else involved in the program, not even head coach Todd Kress.

“You can’t really express how you feel without them trying to hide it or pretend that everything is fine. With Melissa, you can express how you feel, and she can comfort you and validate your feelings and at least you feel heard compared to other coaches,” Slusser said.

The San Jose State University Spartans are flanked by Moby Arena security, campus police and private security during the NCAA Mountain West women’s volleyball game against the Colorado State University Rams at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. ., Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez says the conference did not find enough evidence to substantiate the claims in the Title IX complaint. The complaint alleges that Blaire Fleming conspired with a player at Colorado State to influence the outcome of a game and that Fleming’s teammate Brooke Slusser was hit in the face with a football during that game.

The letter did not directly address the idea that there was a conspiracy in Slusser’s face-off. The letter simply refers to all the allegations in the complaint as “rigging the competition.” Nevarez says the investigation of the conference includes interviews with head coaches and student-athletes initiated by both institutions. However, the book does not specifically mention which people were interviewed. The conference denied multiple requests from Fox News Digital to release the names of the interviewees.

Those allegations were revealed in a recent lawsuit Slusser filed against the Mountain West and San Jose State. Slusser’s legal team has issued a statement to Fox News Digital questioning the veracity of the congressional investigation.

However, Crews confirmed that Slusser, his teammates and all other players in the Mountain West Tournament will have to share the tournament with Fleming in Las Vegas this week.

A spokesman for the Mountain West Conference told Fox News Digital last week that it plans to crown San Jose State if it reaches the finals and the opposing team loses. Four teams in the conference have already lost games to San Jose State, including two that will compete for the right to face the Spartans in the semifinal round.

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Blair Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans tries to block a shot during the first set against the Air Force Falcons on Falcon Court in the East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)

Utah State and Boise State will play in a quarterfinal game that will determine who faces Fleming and Slusser in the next round.

Boise State was so reluctant to play San Jose State during the regular season that it lost two scheduled games against the Spartans, taking a conference loss from its record. Meanwhile, Utah State, which has lost just one game, joined the recent charge against the Mountain West with Fleming’s presence.

San Jose State has repeatedly defended Fleming’s presence on the team.

“All of our athletes are in compliance with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policy and are eligible to play under those organizations’ rules. Members of our volleyball team have earned the right to compete, and we are deeply disappointed with them and with them that they are being denied those opportunities and forfeits. We are proud of the way they have persevered through these challenges. in court,” said a statement provided to Fox News Digital by a university spokesperson.

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