SJSU athlete starts a controversial debate
The SJSU [San Jose State University] women’s volleyball team started off the 2024-25 season strong with nine wins in a row, until four of their upcoming matches were abruptly canceled. Controversy has risen after the media discovered that the team includes an alleged transgender woman, Blaire Fleming.
SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a federal lawsuit filed by more than a dozen female athletes challenging the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] on Sept. 23. The NCAA is a non-profit organization that regulates college athletics in the United States and Canada. Slusser asserted that the NCAA’s policy allowing transgender women the ability to compete on women’s sports teams violates “Title IX,” a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings.
In her lawsuit, Slusser claimed that she was not immediately informed that she had a transgender teammate while the two lived in the same residence with three other teammates in 2023. She advocated for the disqualification of her teammate, and argued that Fleming was stronger than the rest of the team and posed a safety risk to other players during practices and games. However, Fleming’s team profile suggests that she has played on women’s’ sports teams since high school and also played at SJSU for two previous seasons without any public concerns or backlash.
Fleming was originally outed by a story published by Reduxx in April, 2024 alleging that she was transgender and hid her biological sex from her teammates and opponents. The day the news article was published, she revealed to Slusser her gender identity over lunch. SJSU officials held a meeting with the volleyball team that same day urging the players to not speak publicly about Fleming.
Of the four schools that backed out of their games against SJSU, Southern Utah University was the first. It announced its decision to not participate in their upcoming match on Sept. 14. Boise State University was second to forfeit and chose not to play its Sept. 28 match against the Spartans. The University of Wyoming was the third team to pull out of its Oct. 5 game. Utah State University was the fourth and final team to withdraw from its Oct. 23 match against SJSU. None of the schools have revealed why they chose to cancel their matches, but it is believed that the transgender athlete’s presence played a role in their decision.
