An appeal to a federal judge’s ruling that will let a trans athlete compete at the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament was denied amid safety concerns.
An emergency appeal to a Biden-appointed federal judge’s ruling that will let a trans athlete compete at the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament was denied on Tuesday.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews ruled on Monday that San Jose State senior Blaire Fleming, who has been identified as a biological male in multiple lawsuits, is eligible to compete after multiple players contested that Fleming should not be allowed to play in Las Vegas this week.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) filed an emergency appeal to the ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. But the 10th Circuit agreed with Crews’ ruling, in a decision that came Tuesday afternoon. Crews rejected the request for an emergency injunction, finding the players and others who challenged the league’s policy for allowing transgender athletes to participate should have filed the complaint earlier.
NCAA women’s volleyball players Brooke Slusser, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk were all listed on the complaint and the appeal to have Fleming removed. Slusser is Fleming’s San Jose State teammate, and has alleged she was made to share living spaces and changing spaces with Fleming while the university withheld Fleming’s natural birth sex from Slusser and other players on the team.
“It is shameful that the administrators at the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA are unwilling too do their jobs, which is solely to protect fair competition and the safety of athletes who compete in college sports. However, because Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and NCAA President Charlie Baker won’t do their jobs and are apparently afraid to stand up for the rights of women student-athletes, we are forced to ask the federal courts to do their jobs for them”, said ICONS legal counsel Bill Bock.
San Jose State provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying the university, saying it was “gratified” with Crews’ ruling.
“San José State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms. All San José State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules. We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules”, the statement read.
Bock told Fox News Digital after the appeal was denied that the conference “have delayed justice, but will not escape justice.”
“The Court of Appeal’s statement that the Plaintiffs appear to have presented a substantial and meritorious legal claim calls into question the legal reasoning of the district court and confirms Plaintiffs’ conviction that the harm caused to numerous women and women’s teams by a trans-identifying male competing in Mountain West Conference women’s college volleyball stems from illegal Conference and NCAA rules which are resulting in substantial and continuing violations of federal law.
