San Jose State transgender women’s volleyball player Blaire Fleming will be allowed to play in the upcoming Mountain West Conference tournament and the rest of the season after a ruling from a federal judge.
Federal Judge Kato Crews in Colorado officially denied a motion for injunctive relief in college volleyball players’ lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference.
The motion for the injunction was brought by players representing several schools in the Mountain West Conference, sought to have forfeits rescinded, the conference standings adjusted, and Fleming banned from the tournament.
The motion cited First Amendment and Title IX violations, but the judge clearly did not see it that way.
Crews however, wrote in her decision that the injunction “was not reasonable” and “would risk confusion and upend months of planning and would prejudice, at a minimum, (San Jose State) and other teams participating in the tournament.”
As a result, Fleming will be allowed to participate the rest of the season and in the tournament and the teams who chose to forfeit rather than play against San Jose State will remain with forfeits on their schedule and in the standings.
San Jose State released a statement expressing satisfaction with the decision.
“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,” the school said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“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.”
Given the results of the regular season, San Jose State is guaranteed to play in the semifinal of the tournament and are set to face off against one of the four teams that refused to play them in the regular season with Utah State and Boise State are set to play in the quarterfinal match that will determine who will take on San Jose State in the following round.
We’ll have to see whether or not the winner of that game chooses to play against her in the tournament.
