San Jose State University's run in the Mountain West Tournament came to an end Saturday night, when the team lost to Colorado State – a loss that likely ended the volleyball career of San Jose's Blaire Fleming (pictured above), a man who recently got a judge's permission to play in the women's tournament.
Before the loss, though, Boise State had forfeited its match against San Jose State because of Fleming.
Sia Li'ili'i, an Independent Women's Forum (IWF) ambassador and captain of the women's volleyball team at the University of Nevada Reno, which was among the four teams that forfeited their regular season games against San Jose State, applauds Boise State's team for its bravery and courage.
"We work our whole lives to get to this level," she says on behalf of her fellow volleyball players. "[Boise] had the opportunity to go into the Mountain West Championship, and instead of competing, they decided that it's bigger than a championship. They forfeited two of their games during the regular season, which was also big, but to do it when it's a tournament setting and its season ending – that was, I think, really big on their part."
Li'ili'i thinks the forfeitures were necessary to get this issue covered, and she asserts that it is not just about an individual.
"It's always been about the future of women's sports and seeing that this could snowball into something way bigger," the IWF ambassador tells AFN. "What's stopping the coach from recruiting a roster full of biologically male athletes in order to win and get to that NCAA championship?"
Considering that men are biologically faster, stronger, and just bigger, they can generally jump higher and hit harder than women. Li'ili'i summarizes the inclusion of males on female sports teams with one word: cheating.
Even so, a man who goes by the name JayCee Cooper is hoping the Minnesota Supreme Court will let him compete in upcoming women's powerlifting events.
Christy Hall, Cooper's attorney, pointed out to the court on Tuesday that in 1993, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to prohibit discrimination against so-called transgender people.
"This court must interpret that protection now in the same way that courts all across the country do," she stated. "Treating transgender people inconsistently with their gender identity is at the heart of gender identity discrimination."
USA Powerlifting rejected JayCee Cooper's application in 2018 to compete in its women's division of events because of his biological strength advantages. Cooper sued in 2021, and the trial court sided with him.
"I would suggest there would be a serious chilling effect on women's sports if the approach taken by Miss Cooper were to be in effect, because I think it has at least three negative consequences," said Ansis V. Viksnins, USA Powerlifting attorney. "It displaces other women, it discourages other women, and in extreme cases, it creates the potential of physical harm."
Female track-and-field athletes in other states such as Connecticut have made similar arguments.
Amid the forfeitures to San Jose State, the university fired associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose last month for filing a Title IX complaint against the school alleging that Fleming conspired with an opponent to help the team lose a match and to injure one of his teammates.
In short, she lost her job for trying to protect female athletes.
Meanwhile, former college swimmers Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan have voiced concerns over having to change in locker room spaces with males.
