The controversy over trans-identified athletes on the San Jose State Women’s volleyball team has intensified after a group of female athletes refused to play against biological males.
This development comes amid legal challenges and political debates over the matter, which has played out in college and high school sporting events across the country.
Recently, a U.S. Magistrate Judge ruled to allow a biological male to compete in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship this week, rejecting a request for an emergency injunction filed by the nine players from opposing teams who argue that forcing them to compete against men is unfair and jeopardizes their safety.
Case in point: On Monday, a judge, who obviously has not studied biology, refused to block a transgender player from competing on the San Jose State women's volleyball team. U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews handed down the ruling in Denver.
A judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender.
The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to compete in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship this week in Las Vegas.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by nine current players against the conference, challenging league policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting the transgender player compete poses a safety risk and is unfair.
The judge’s ruling has drawn mixed reactions. The university doubled down on its support for the trans-identified male player. The university vowed that it will “continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms.”
The conflict has escalated beyond the courtroom and has played out in the public square. Nevada volleyball captain Sia Liilii criticized the inclusion of males in women’s sports at a rally in Reno. “I never expected to be blindsided, having to compete against a male athlete,” she said, adding, “This is not what we signed up for.”
Liilii told ESPN about how she and her team members “saw this male athlete bounce a ball in front of a libero [defensive specialist], and it was undefendable.” She said they “all agreed that this is unfair. This is unsafe.”
Yet, San Jose State’s coach, Todd Kress, absurdly argued against claims that a biological male has a competitive advantage over females. “Your roster has been your roster for the last three years. Why would we not play you?” he said to ESPN.
He also claimed that the trans-identified male player has competed for multiple seasons without prior incident, saying the individual “happens to be the kill leader on the team. But to think that she’s hitting any harder than people if you look at the top-10 volleyball teams in the country, that’s not the case.”
The ESPN report provided some more context, however.
The player who is said to be transgender leads her team in kills (297) and is third in hitting percentage (.251). She is fourth in the Mountain West in kills per set with 3.96. She does not rank in the top 10 in the Mountain West in hitting percentage or in the top 150 in the NCAA. ESPN used camera calibration software to analyze video of five of her spikes in five different games, including the one shared by Gaines from the Iowa game (51 mph) and another that went viral against San Diego State (60 mph) to estimate their velocity. The average speed of her spikes was 50.6 mph. The fastest was estimated to travel 64 mph.
This week’s Mountain West tournament will be a critical moment in the ongoing dispute as the legal challenges continue. But, as RedState’s Ward Clark pointed out, “[T]he very real and unfair discrimination against women and girls in sports will also continue.”
Sometimes, when I read these stories, I feel like I’m in Bizarro world. The courts are literally adjudicating cases to decide whether it is fair to have female athletes compete against biological males. The fact that this is even a question shows where we are as a society – and it ain’t good.
We still have nimrods like coach Todd Kress and others who continue trying to gaslight the public into believing men do not have physical advantages over women. What is sad is that too many people are willing to go along with it, knowing it isn’t true, because they fear being called a “transphobe.” If we are going to win this battle, there have to be more people willing to stand up and loudly proclaim that the Emperor has not a stitch of clothing.
