Wyoming becomes third school to cancel game against women’s volleyball team with transgender player
By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Another women’s collegiate volleyball team has forfeited its game against San Jose State University, a team with a transgender athlete, putting pressure on the NCAA to bar biological males from female sports.
The University of Wyoming said Tuesday evening that its women’s volleyball team would take the loss rather than play San Jose State and standout redshirt-senior Blaire Fleming, identified as a male-to-female transgender student.
“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San Jose State University in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 5,” said Wyoming spokesperson Chad Baldwin in a statement. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming.”
Wyoming became the third university in the Mountain West, an NCAA Division I conference, to withdraw from its game against the undefeated Spartans.
Southeast Utah and Boise State already had refused to play San Jose State.
None of the schools has given an explanation for refusing to play, but Fleming’s participation on the San Jose squad has been hotly debated since Reduxx broke the story in April.
Those cheering the university’s decision included Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, who said he was in “full support of the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State.
“It’s important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics,” the Republican governor wrote on X.
The decision came after Republican state Sen. Cheri Steinmetz circulated a letter among state legislators urging University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel and Athletic Director Tom Burman to forfeit the scheduled match.
“We assure you; the majority of our constituents do not want the integrity of Women’s Athletics to be decimated by the participation of males who overall have superior physical strength and abilities to women,” said the Oct. 1 letter. “We the undersigned Legislators urge you to cancel this match and reconsider your policies regarding DEI and DEI in Women’s Athletics at UW.”
San Jose State has not commented publicly on Fleming, who transferred to the California school in 2022 after playing at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina.
Fleming has the second-most kills and points on the 9-0 team, trailing only redshirt sophomore Nayeli Ti’a.
But last week, Fleming’s teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA challenging its policy allowing male-born players to compete in female sports based on gender identity.
Idaho, Utah and Wyoming are among the 25 states that have passed measures barring biological males from competing based on gender identity in female scholastic sports.
San Jose State’s next match is Wednesday against Colorado State University in Fort Collins, which is unlikely to forfeit, given that Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill last year making Colorado a “transgender sanctuary” state.