Biden-appointee judge rules that 6-ft-tall male volleyball player can continue competing against women
Multiple female athletes have expressed concerns over Fleming, including his own fellow team members.
A Colorado judge determined that Fleming can compete in the Mountain West Conference, despite five female volleyball teams forfeiting against him due to safety and fairness concerns.
A Colorado judge appointed by President Joe Biden recently decided that a male player on a women’s volleyball team can keep on competing despite having an unfair physical advantage over his female opponents.
Blaire Fleming, a six foot tall male player playing for the San Jose State University (SJSU) female volleyball team, the Spartans, has helped his team win multiple victories. Outrage over Fleming’s unfair advantages, as well as safety concerns about playing against a male player, has led to five different female teams forfeiting matches instead of competing against Fleming.
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The controversy has also resulted in a lawsuit from Spartans player Brooke Slusser and others calling on the Mountain West Conference to stop Fleming from taking part, keeping the competition only between female players.
Judge S. Kato Crews of the U.S. District Court in Colorado, however, ruled on Monday that Fleming can participate in the Mountain West Conference, reported The New York Times.
Crews alleged, among other things, that Title IX protections extend to men who “identify” as women, wrote the Times.
Title IX was designed to protect women, though certain public figures, including Biden, have been trying to revise it to also apply to men who claim they are women.
Slusser and the other plaintiffs in the case have appealed the decision, the Times wrote.
As a result of Crews’s decision, the five teams who refused to play against Fleming will have their forfeitures continue to be counted as losses, OutKick wrote.
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SJSU told OutKick: “San José State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms. All San José State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules. We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week.”
The school previously suspended Spartans coach Melissa Batie-Smoose after she complained that SJSU demonstrated favoritism to Fleming and actively quashed complaints from his colleagues who expressed worries about having a man on the roster.
Campus Reform has reached out to San Jose State University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
