Judge Rules San Jose State Transgender Volleyball Player Can Compete

DENVER — The San Jose State women’s volleyball team can compete in this week's conference tournament, a judge ruled Monday, rejecting a request to bar a player from the Spartans' roster on the grounds that she is transgender, according to reports.

Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver handed down the decision that the player could compete at the Mountain West Conference championship in Las Vegas, the Associated Press reported. Crews cited a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that found federal laws against sex discrimination do not allow discrimination based on gender identity, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

San Jose State in a statement said it would continue to support student-athletes and reject discrimination, calling the move to ban the player an “eleventh-hour attempt,” the Associated Press reported, while the conference said it was “satisfied” by the decision.

The lawsuit was brought in mid-November by San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser — who complained about her teammate’s height and spike speed, the Chronicle reported — as well as the school’s associate head coach, Melissa Batie-Smoose, and another 10 current and former Mountain West players, according to ESPN.

They are seeking an emergency appeal, the Associated Press reported, and hope the appeals court will “protect the women volleyball players who are about to compete for a conference championship,” their attorney, William Bock, said, ESPN reported.

The judge noted the conference has for over two years allowed transgender women to participate if medical tests showed they had testosterone levels considered normal for females, according to the Chronicle. The player has not discussed her identity and San Jose State has not commented on it either, according to ESPN, although Crews noted no defendant disputed that there was a transgender player on the team, the Associated Press reported.

Several teams refused to play San Jose State during this season, earning the forfeitting teams losses, according to the Associated Press. San Jose State, which is seeded No. 2 in the tournament and gets a bye to the semifinals, received six of its 12 wins from forfeits, ESPN reported, noting both of the teams San Jose State could play Friday — Utah State and Boise State — forfeited earlier in the season.