San Jose State mired in controversy over alleged transgender volleyball player

Two weeks ago, the co-captain of the San Jose State women’s volleyball team joined a federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s transgender athlete participation policy.

Brooke Slusser advocated for the disqualification of a volleyball teammate who allegedly was born male but now identifies as a transgender female. Slusser argued in the legal filing that the player strikes the ball with such power that it provides San Jose State “an unfair advantage” and poses a safety risk to other players during practices and games.

Those comments from Slusser dumped gasoline on an already smoldering controversy. Activists have attacked San Jose State, conservative politicians have intervened and now three fellow Mountain West schools have forfeited matches against the Spartans rather than take the court against a player they believe to be transgender.

On the eve of its Sept. 28 match at San Jose State, Boise State revealing it would not play and would accept a forfeit loss. Wyoming and Utah State this week forfeited matches against the Spartans later this month. In each instance, the schools chose not to explain why they weren’t playing. In each instance, the announcements were followed by a social media post from a state governor applauding the decision.

“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely,” Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox after Utah State’s announcement Wednesday night. “Our female athletes are left grappling with this difficult issue because the NCAA has failed in its responsibility to protect female athletes and women’s sports. It’s time for the NCAA to take this seriously.”

In response to the forfeits, San Jose State released a statement saying, “It is disappointing that our SJSU student athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete.” The Spartans entered the week with a perfect 9-0 record before suffering their first loss of the season at Colorado State on Thursday night with reporters from a half dozen local and national media outlets on hand.

Before the match, San Jose State coach Todd Kress approached Colorado State’s Emily Kohan and said, “Should I say thank you for playing us?” Kress told reporters in Colorado Springs later that night that he “seriously meant that” because the forfeits are hurting not only San Jose State players but also opposing players “that have earned the right to step on the court and play.”

“We’re in a position where it appears that government and politics has kind of intertwined itself with college sports,” Kress said, adding that he prefers college sports to be a “safe haven” from government intervention.

Yahoo Sports has chosen not to name San Jose State’s allegedly transgender player because she herself has not spoken publicly about her gender identity. San Jose State does not address the gender identity of any student, citing federal privacy laws.

The presence of the allegedly transgender player had not been reported and never been an issue for San Jose State’s women’s volleyball opponents prior to this season. The 6-foot-1 former Coastal Carolina transfer appeared in 27 matches for the Spartans during the 2022 season and 17 while fighting through injuries last season. She never made an all-conference team prior to this season, nor was she among the Mountain West leaders in kills or kills percentage.

San Jose State finished 13-18 last season and won only four Mountain West matches. On Nov. 9, 2023, Utah State swept San Jose State with the player in question in the Spartans’ starting lineup. Two days later, Boise State did the same.

It wasn’t just opponents who didn’t suspect San Jose State had a transgender player last year. Neither did some of her teammates.

Slusser transferred from Alabama to San Jose State in Fall 2023 and was assigned a dorm suite with the allegedly transgender player and other teammates. The two were often roommates on road trips, according to the legal complaint, during the 2023-24 season.

Last April, Reduxx published a story alleging that a San Jose State women’s volleyball player was transgender and had withheld her biological sex from her teammates and opponents. The conservative news outlet said it had begun reporting the story after receiving a tip from the mother of an opposing player.

The day the story came out, the San Jose State player revealed to Slusser she was transgender over lunch, according to the lawsuit. San Jose State officials also held a meeting with the women’s volleyball team urging players to not speak publicly about a teammate’s gender identity and to let that player tell her own story.

The lawsuit alleges that San Jose State did not inform any of its incoming women’s volleyball recruits that it allegedly had a transgender athlete on the team even though “this was now a well-known fact to the athletic department and virtually everyone else at SJSU.” Slusser also alleged the allegedly transgender player’s spikes in practice were traveling “faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball.”

“Many of the girls on the team spoke with Brooke about their fears of being hit by balls spiked by [the player],” the lawsuit reads.

Under pressure to satisfy activists on both sides of the issue, the NCAA over the past three years has updated its transgender athlete participation policy to align with the Olympic movement. Transgender athletes must undergo testosterone testing and meet sport-specific levels to compete in NCAA women’s sports.

Those tweaks come at a time when transgender rhetoric has escalated. In July, Elon Musk raged against the “woke-minded virus” that “killed” his transgender daughter, who he said transitioned during the pandemic. Former president Donald Trump has spoken of “transgender insanity” and has raised fears that educators are “grooming” or “indoctrinating” children to become gay or transgender during the school day.

San Jose State women’s volleyball drew criticism as far back as early September when it beat Iowa to notch a rare victory over a Big Ten foe. The controversy has escalated since Slusser joined the lawsuit against the NCAA and local and national media descended.

So far no other Mountain West opponents have forfeited. Upcoming opponent San Diego State says it intends to face the Spartans next Thursday in San Jose.

“We are ready to play and are committed to supporting our student-athletes,” San Diego State said in a statement.

When asked if he expects more cancellations, Kress said he won’t speculate. He described this San Jose State team as one of his favorites he has ever coached.

“We have differences, right?” he said. “I mean, we have differences within our locker room, in our team meetings, that sort of thing, but we still, when we go out on the court, we love one another, and we respect each other, we respect our differences. I’m not sure any teams that I’ve coached in the past would be able to handle some of the outside pressures that we’ve dealt with, but we’ve done an incredible job of doing that.”