by Gabrielle Temaat
Transgender athlete Blaire Fleming on San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team likely played the last game of his career after losing to Colorado State University on Saturday.
Fleming (pictured here, No. 3) was San Jose State’s top performer in the Mountain West Tournament match, leading the team with 17 kills. However, he also made nine errors and struggled with his hitting in the first two sets, Fox News reported.
This means SJSU will not move on to the NCAA tournament, “which would have introduced further controversy with potential matchups against teams outside the conference,” according to Fox News.
Colorado State player Malaya Jones, named Mountain West Player of the Year, dominated the game with 26 kills after kneeling during the national anthem prior to the match, The New York Post reported.
Jones has been accused of conspiring “with Fleming in a plan to spike a ball in the face of San Jose State teammate Brooke Slusser in a game Oct. 3, according to a lawsuit filed by Slusser and a Title IX complaint,” the New York Post reported.
However, Mountain West conducted an investigation into the complaint and concluded that there was not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.
Fleming has been at the center of controversy over men participating in women’s sports over the last several months.
President-elect Donald Trump recently commented on a video circulating the internet that shows Fleming spike a ball so hard it knocked another player to the ground.
“I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump said.
“But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently, I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men,” he said.
He promised to “absolutely stop” men from participating in women’s sports.
Five teams have forfeited their matches rather than competing against the male player, The College Fix previously reported. In total, SJSU has won seven matches via forfeit.
Boise State University forfeited for the third time against the school in the recent Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament.
Last week, a federal judge ruled to allow Fleming to play on the women’s volleyball team. The judge denied a motion against the Mountain West Conference seeking to rule Fleming ineligible to play.
The lawsuit was filed by SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, SJSU associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, and 10 other current or former athletes who allege that the conference’s “Transgender Participation Policy” suppresses “the free speech rights of women athletes.”
While Fleming’s career may be over, the debate surrounding men participating in women’s sports certainly isn’t.
National sports organizations like the NCAA have developed guidelines that allow men to compete in women’s events as long as they have maintained testosterone levels below a certain threshold for at least 12 months. However, these regulations fail to account for the inherent physical advantages that biological men retain even after undergoing hormone replacement therapy.
The effects of male puberty—such as greater muscle mass, larger lung capacity, and higher bone density—cannot be mitigated by reducing testosterone levels. Greater physical strength, speed, and endurance are rooted in male physiology. And as we know, identities don’t play sports. Bodies do.
While the NCAA and other organizations claim that their rules ensure fair competition, the results of recent events suggest otherwise. From high school track meets to professional swimming competitions, biological men have dominated women’s sports.
A key example of this is transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who, after “transitioning” and reducing his testosterone levels, went on to dominate women’s swimming competitions at the University of Pennsylvania, setting records and stealing titles from deserving women.
Current rules are clearly being used to advance a politically correct agenda at the expense of women’s hard-earned opportunities.
Hopefully, President-elect Trump will keep his promise to ban men from women’s sports.
– – –
Gabrielle Temaat is an assistant editor at The College Fix. She holds a B.S. in economics from Barrett, the Honors College, at Arizona State University.
Photos by SJSU Vollyball.
