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Lawsuit Seeks to Bar Volleyball Player From Mountain West Conference Tournament

Nov 15, 2024

A federal lawsuit filed against the Mountain West Conference, league commissioner Gloria Nevarez, and others over a purported transgender volleyball player at San Jose State could impact the conference’s upcoming postseason tournament.

A dozen women—including SJSU assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and co-captain Brooke Slusser—requested an injunction as part of the lawsuit filed in a Colorado federal court Wednesday to prevent the player’s participation in the MWC championships. The plaintiffs also seek an injunction that would restrain the MWC from using the current standings—which includes SJSU’s forfeited wins attained after Boise State, Wyoming, the University of Nevada-Reno, and Utah State refused to play the Spartans—to determine the six-team tournament that begins Nov. 27.

The lawsuit named the purported trans player, but the athlete in question has never publicly discussed their gender identity. The university has never said the athlete is transgender. Batie-Smoose has been suspended indefinitely by SJSU, according to the lawsuit.

“This lawsuit is an extremist attack that weaponizes and distorts the language of women’s rights to justify discrimination and bigotry,” Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools for the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “These anti-trans extremists are relying on disinformation and attempting to misuse civil rights laws to force illegal discrimination against women and girls who don’t conform to their stereotypes, in ways that would violate Title IX and the Constitution, and also reinforce anti-LGBTQI+ stigma and bigotry in our society.”

The attorney for the athletes suing the Mountain West said that the women’s First Amendment rights were being violated.

“Recently, the MWC, SJSU, and the other defendants have collectively manipulated MWC rules, diminished sport opportunities for women, spread inaccurate information, used their positions to chill and suppress speech with which they disagree, and punished dozens of female collegiate volleyball student-athletes for taking a public stand for their right to compete in a separate sports category, all in a concerted effort to stamp out debate over women’s rights in sport,” William Bock wrote in the civil complaint.

Source: Front Office Sports

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