Four college volleyball teams lose to San Jose State because of possible transgender players

A fourth university has forfeited its women's volleyball game against San Jose State University due to a controversy over the gender identity of one of the team's players.

Utah State University said in a brief statement Tuesday that it will not play its Oct. 23 game against SJSU, joining the University of Wyoming, Boise State University and Southern Utah University in the have lost all games against the Californian school in the last three weeks.

Neither university explained their decisions, although the University of Wyoming said the decision was made “after a lengthy discussion.” The universities did not respond to requests for additional comment.

Michelle Smith McDonald, senior director of media relations at SJSU, said the university will not address students' gender identity because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law designed to protect student privacy.

“It is disappointing that our SJSU student-athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied participation in competition,” McDonald said in an emailed statement on behalf of the university. “We are committed to supporting our student-athletes through these challenges and in their ability to compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”

The expropriations began after months of speculation on conservative websites about the gender identity of an SJSU player. In April, the far-right website Reduxx published an interview with an anonymous parent of an SJSU player who said there were “rumors” that one of the other players was a transgender woman.

The teammate in question did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News is not using her name because she has neither made a public statement about her identity nor confirmed that she is transgender.

On Sept. 23, SJSU player Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit by more than a dozen female athletes against the NCAA, which oversees college athletics, arguing that its policy allowing trans women to compete on women's teams is against titles IX violates a federal law protecting students against sex discrimination in publicly funded schools and programs. The lawsuit is led by Riley Gaines, a former 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer who competed for the University of Kentucky and who publicly objected to the participation of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, the first trans woman to do so won the NCAA Championship.

In the lawsuit, Slusser says the teammate who was reported in the media told her she was a trans woman. When Slusser asked the teammate, with whom Slusser had lived on team trips, why the teammate had not shared this information with her sooner, the teammate replied, “It never seemed like a good time to bring it up,” and that was true She, too, feared Slusser wouldn't be her friend if Slusser knew the truth, according to the lawsuit, which uses “he” pronouns for the teammate. Slusser said she told the teammate she didn't want her to be bullied, but she wondered if it was safe or fair for the teammate to play on the women's team.

According to the lawsuit, SJSU officials called a meeting shortly thereafter to discuss the news article about the teammate's gender identity and told members of the volleyball team not to discuss the teammate's gender with anyone outside the team. Slusser says that the teammate was stronger than other team members and that the teammate's volleyball hits caused more bruising and pain than hits from other players.

The lawsuit says Slusser suffered “physical and emotional injuries, embarrassment, humiliation, emotional distress, mental anguish and suffering” resulting from the teammate's participation on the team and the NCAA's guidelines barring trans women from competing allow. Slusser did not respond to requests for additional comment.

The NCAA said in a statement that it will “continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women's sports and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes at all NCAA championships.” Michelle Brutlag Hosick, the NCAA's director of external communications, declined further comment.

Trans rights advocates have noted that the teammate did not confirm her gender identity. However, if she is trans, the information was apparently shared and disseminated without her permission, outing her across the country. Her profile with the team indicates that she has played on women's teams at least since high school and also played at SJSU two seasons prior without attracting any public controversy.

Tony Hoang, the executive director of Equality California, said that by canceling games against SJSU, school officials were harming all students involved.

“To be clear, this isn’t actually about sports; “It is part of a coordinated nationwide attack on the LGBTQ+ community led by far-right politicians,” Hoang said in a statement on Thursday.

The Republican governors of Utah and Idaho publicly supported the decisions of Southern Utah University, Utah State University and Boise State University to cancel their games against SJSU.