Trans inclusion policy was hidden from women's college athletes in Mountain West Conference: lawyers

An emergency hearing was held on Wednesday afternoon at a Colorado courthouse in the case brought forth by a dozen women against the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and San Jose State University (SJSU) over the inclusion of trans-identified males in women’s volleyball, exemplified by SJSU's player Blaire Fleming. The policy stated that a forfeiture due to a refusal to play against a trans competitor would result in a loss.

The three-hour hearing took place at the Byron G. Rodgers United States Courthouse in Denver before Biden-appointed Judge S. Kato Crews, who informed the parties involved at the end that he would need time to make a decision, but that it would be in a "timely fashion," OutKick reported.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued during the hearing that Crews should grant injunctive relief ahead of next week’s Mountain West Conference volleyball tournament. The plaintiffs are sueing and asking for San Jose State to be disqualified from the tournament, Blaire Fleming be disqualified from competing in the tournament, and/or the losses that teams which forfeited against SJSU be removed, deprivijg SJSU of the wins gathered from these forgeited games. 

At the center of the hearing’s arguments was the conference’s "Transgender Participation Policy," (TPP) under which the rule was established that forfeitures meant the game would be marked as a loss for the team that dropped out of playing against SJSU.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the MWC violated its own rules by adding the TPP into the handbook in September without a formal vote. MWC lawyers admitted that there was no vote on the addition and that staff in the conference made the decision to add the policy to the handbook out of "public interest." They also said that the rule had been voted on and ratified in 2022. A lawyer for the plaintiffs said, "Our clients should not be bound by a rule that was hidden from them."

A lawyer for Utah State University argued that when the school voted to adopt the TPP in 2022, they didn't realize the "harm" that the rule would cause until their team forfeited a game against the school.

Crews said during the hearing that he would refer to Fleming by "she/her" pronouns, but did not require anyone else to use those pronouns. He also stated that his use of Fleming's preferred pronouns should not be interpreted as him already making a decision in the case. Crews also denied a request from the defendants to not use Fleming's name in open court, saying that it wasn't necessary to use a pseudonym because it was clear who the lone transgender player was on the SJSU team.