Court Rejects Request to Sideline Transgender Player From Women’s Volleyball Team

San Jose State players in Fort Collins, Colo., on Oct. 3, 2024. David Zalubowski/AP Photo

A male athlete who identifies as a transgender woman can participate in a women’s volleyball tournament starting on Nov. 27, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday.

The athlete has been playing since 2022, undercutting an emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal, according to judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

“The district court concluded that granting the requested injunctive relief at this late hour would be highly prejudicial and harmful to the defendants. Notwithstanding plaintiffs’ contentions to the contrary, that conclusion appears well supported by the district court’s factual analysis,” U.S. Circuit Judges Nancy L. Moritz and Carlos F. Lucero said.

The player is on the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team, which is taking part in the Mountain West Conference tournament that starts on Wednesday.

A U.S. district judge earlier in the week turned down an emergency request from female players and coaches, including a different player on San Jose State, to block the player from participating in the tournament on the grounds the participation violates federal law guaranteeing equal opportunities in sports.

The players and coaches “have failed to meet their burden to show irreparable harm, a likelihood of success on the merits, or that the balance of harms or equities is in their favor,” U.S. District Judge Kato Crews ruled on Nov. 25.

In an emergency motion to the 10th Circuit, lawyers for the players and coaches said that the case was not brought until recently because the Mountain West Conference (MWC) handbook did not include a “Transgender Participation Policy” (TPP) until Sept. 27.

“Plaintiffs acted appropriately by publicly protesting to bring attention to their concerns through a series of lawful boycotts. Only when the MWC ignored them did Plaintiffs bring a lawsuit, and they did so expeditiously with sufficient time for their claims to be considered in advance of the MWC tournament,” the lawyers said.

The rulings from Crews and the 10th Circuit judges only deal with the emergency motions. The case is still progressing and could lead to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

“Plaintiffs’ claims appear to present a substantial question and may have merit. But plaintiffs have not established clear entitlement to relief, and however potentially meritorious, their showing does not rise to the level of clear entitlement under the appropriate standard,” Moritz and Lucero said.

William Bock, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told news outlets in a statement, “The Court of Appeal’s statement that the Plaintiffs appear to have presented a substantial and meritorious legal claim calls into question the legal reasoning of the district court and confirms Plaintiffs’ conviction that the harm caused to numerous women and women’s teams by a trans-identifying male competing in Mountain West Conference women’s college volleyball stems from illegal Conference and NCAA rules which are resulting in substantial and continuing violations of federal law.”

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules allow athletes who identify as transgender to compete, provided they meet certain criteria. The MWC policy permits athletes who identify as transgender and are deemed eligible by the NCAA to compete in intraconference competitions. The policy also states that if a conference team refuses to participate in a contest due to the inclusion of a transgender athlete, the team that refuses forfeits the contest. Recently, multiple teams have forfeited matches against San Jose State.

Brock added, “Plaintiffs look forward to ultimately receiving justice in this case when they prove these legal violations in court, and Plaintiffs look forward to the day when men are no longer allowed to wreak havoc in women’s sport.”

A scheduling conference in the case has been set for Jan. 13, 2025.

A spokesperson for San Jose State told news outlets in a statement, “San Jose State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms.”

Conference officials said in a statement earlier in the week that they are “satisfied with the denial of the preliminary injunction and will continue to uphold the policies put in place by our Board of Directors which directly align with NCAA and USA Volleyball.”