The conflict over the Mountain West Conference’s policies toward transgender players intensified this week when volleyball coaches and current and former players filed a federal lawsuit alleging Title IX violations and violations of their free speech rights.
The lawsuit against the Mountain West, San Jose State University and numerous academic officials aims to prevent San Jose State’s transgender athletes from participating in the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championships later this month. The Athletic reported that. Among those filing the lawsuit are one of the player’s current teammates and one of the player’s coaches.
The lawsuit has implications beyond this fall’s college volleyball season. It also could affect college sports as a whole as part of a wave of lawsuits over the future of women’s sports.
Let’s take a closer look at the lawsuits against Mountain West and San Jose states.
What claims are made in the new lawsuit?
In a new lawsuit, current and former players and coaches, including San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, allege San Jose State and the Mountain West are protecting San Jose State’s free speech rights and Title IX rights through support of transgender athletes. claims to be infringing. .
Their free speech claims stem from their beliefs that they were prevented or punished from speaking out against the conference’s policies regarding transgender athletes.
Title IX claims focus on the plaintiffs’ belief that transgender athlete policies harm female athletes.
Wasn’t there already a lawsuit going on?
Slusser, who is currently a San Jose State player involved in the new lawsuit, is also part of a separate lawsuit against the NCAA filed earlier this year. The lawsuit aims to force changes to the NCAA’s policies regarding transgender athletes.
San Jose State coach Melissa Batty Smooth, who is involved in the new lawsuit, also has previous lawsuits involving transgender athletes.
“On Oct. 29, Batty Smooth filed a Title IX complaint with San Jose State University, Mountain West University, and the NCAA alleging discrimination against women,” The Athletic reported, and days later, she He pointed out that he had been suspended from his duties.
What is the NCAA’s policy regarding transgender athletes?
As previously reported by the Deseret News, the NCAA is taking a sport-by-sport approach to eligibility guidelines for transgender athletes. The guidelines reflect those set by each sport’s governing body.
This means that in the case of college volleyball, the NCAA’s eligibility rules for transgender athletes are derived from USA Volleyball. In both settings, “transgender women with testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L are considered eligible,” according to ESPN.
San Jose State University does not comment on the identity of its transgender players, citing privacy laws, but the school said “all players are eligible to play on the women’s volleyball team,” ESPN reported.
What does Mountain West say about this lawsuit?
The Mountain West Conference released a statement Thursday regarding the new lawsuit.
“The Mountain West Conference takes great care in prioritizing the best interests of our student-athletes and adhering to NCAA and MW policies,” the statement said, according to ESPN. “While we cannot comment on pending litigation in this particular situation, we take seriously any concerns regarding the welfare and fairness of our student-athletes.”
What does San Jose State say about this lawsuit?
On Thursday, San Jose state officials said they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“We have not yet been served with the lawsuit. We obtained a copy of the 132-page document late Wednesday afternoon,” SJSU said in a statement, The Athletic reported. “We have no comment at this time.”
Did the dispute surrounding San Jose State volleyball affect the season?
A dispute over transgender athletes at San Jose State University has already resulted in several disqualifications and affected this fall’s college volleyball season.
Utah State and Southern Utah declined to play San Jose State, as did Boise State, Wyoming and Nevada.
The Mountain West Conference, which includes all schools except Southern Utah, counts forfeited games as “a win for SJSU and a loss for the school that withdrew from the game,” according to ESPN.
The top six teams based on regular season conference record qualify for the Mountain West Conference Championship. As of Friday, San Jose State was in second place, according to ESPN.
What happens next?
The new lawsuit includes a request for emergency relief, with the suing players having San Jose State University’s transgender athletes declared ineligible before the lawsuit can be fully explained and argued. I hope that.
If the request is granted, San Jose State and the Mountain West Conference will have the opportunity to appeal the decision.
Regardless of what happens ahead of the Mountain West Conference tournament, the case will likely continue to be heard in federal court over the coming months.
Ultimately, that plan could be disrupted by the Trump administration’s new guidelines for transgender athletes in women’s sports. During his campaign, President-elect Trump expressed interest in banning transgender women from women’s sports.
President Trump could achieve his policy goals in a variety of ways, including an executive order clarifying how Title IX should be interpreted.
