A request to block a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament for being a transgender woman has been rejected.
The rejection comes after a lawsuit was filed this month by nine players against the Mountain West Conference, challenging their transgender athlete policy. They claimed letting the allegedly trans player compete was a safety risk and unfair for other players.
Utah State University filed a motion to join the lawsuit last week, soon after pressure from Utah leaders.
In a ruling released on Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver said the players who filed the complaint could’ve sought relief much earlier and had acknowledged earlier in the season that not playing against San Jose State would result in a forfeit.
He also noted that injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. Since the conference policy for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player has been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has played for them since 2022, he said, that’s the status quo.
The ruling means the player, who was outed as trans by a far-right anti-trans website earlier this year but has not publicly commented on her gender identity, can compete in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship this week. It also keeps San Jose seeded second in the conference.
Several teams have forfeited against San Jose State University this season, including Utah State University and Boise State University.
