Boise State women’s volleyball forfeits game vs. San Jose State amid outcry over transgender player

An uproar over transgender athletes in college sports erupted Friday after Boise State announced that it would forfeit a women’s volleyball game against San Jose State, an undefeated team whose star player has been identified as a transgender athlete.

San Jose State was scheduled to host Boise State on Saturday, but the Idaho university’s athletic department said Friday that the 8-6 team has decided to take a forfeit in the Mountain West Conference showdown.

“Boise State volleyball will not play its scheduled match at San José State on Saturday, Sept. 28,” Boise State said in a statement on its athletics website. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Boise State. The Broncos will next compete on Oct. 3 against Air Force.”

Boise State offered no details for the decision, but the 10-0 San Jose State team has come under heated criticism in recent weeks over one of its top players, redshirt senior Blaire Fleming, described as a biological male who identifies as female.

Boise State isn’t alone. Southern Utah University canceled without explanation a Sept. 14 match against San Jose State. 

“Boise State has decided to forfeit their match against San Jose State University after increasing concerns about playing against SJSU’s trans-identifying male athlete, Blaire Fleming,” the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, or ICONS, posted on Instagram.

The group said that “women shouldn’t have to take an ‘L’ for standing up for their right to safe and fair competition. We applaud Boise State for defending Title IX and their female athletes!”

The decision to forfeit came after ICONS sent a letter to the Mountain West teams urging them to “withdraw from any competition in which any male competes” — and after objections from one of Fleming’s teammates, San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser.

Earlier this week, Slusser joined the lawsuit filed by former University of Kentucky All-American swimmer Riley Gaines and more than 70 other female athletes against the NCAA over its policy allowing male-born players to compete in women’s sports based on gender identity.

Slusser, the team’s starting setter, said she was “forced both to compete and to share a residence with Fleming without any prior notice that the athlete was male,” according to OutKick, which first reported the story.

“Upon transferring to SJSU from Alabama in the Fall of 2023, Slusser began sharing a residence with four of her teammates, including Fleming,” said OutKick. “At no point during her recruitment, nor during the 2023 season, was she informed that a male athlete was on the team.”

In addition, “Slusser was frequently assigned by the SJSU athletic department to room with Fleming on road trips. She later found out that Fleming specifically requested her.”

Compare:
Video 1: SJSU’s male player Blaire Fleming spiking on a women’s net during tonight’s game.
Video 2: Female players from the top-ranked @NCAA women’s team also hitting on a women’s regulation net.

SJSU’s women’s team is now 8-0. pic.twitter.com/B4N4iG6t6n

— ICONS (@icons_women) September 22, 2024

The NCAA released a statement after the forfeiture that failed to mention Fleming or San Jose State.

“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America and the NCAA members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships,” the NCAA said in a statement.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little wrote on X that he applauded Boise State “for working within the spirit of my Executive Order, the Defending Women’s Sports Act. We need to ensure player safety for all of our female athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women’s sports.”

Fleming transferred from Coastal Carolina University to San Jose State in 2022, the same year that South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a “Save Women’s Sports” law banning male-born students in female scholastic sports, including collegiate athletics.

California has no such law. The deep-blue state became in 2022 the first transgender-sanctuary state for youth seeking to change their gender identity, including taking cross-sex hormones and undergoing surgeries.

San Jose State has remained mum on the gender identity of Fleming. The Washington Times has reached out to the university for comment.

The NCAA has deferred to the national governing bodies of individual sports on the issue of transgender eligibility since January 2022, the height of the uproar over the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas, a male-born swimmer who smashed women’s records after transitioning to female.

USA Volleyball requires male-born players over 18 to keep their testosterone in serum below 10 nmol/L for at least a year prior to competition, still about five times higher than the testosterone range for adult women, which is 0.5-2.4 nmol/L.

LGBTQ advocates maintain that athletes should be able to compete based on gender identity in the name of inclusion, while advocates for single-sex sports argue that their physical advantages cannot be mitigated simply by reducing testosterone.