XPost: alt.transgendered, alt.california, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

Two Nevada volleyball players are among a dozen women who have filed a
lawsuit against the Mountain West, its conference commissioner and four officials at San Jose State, including the school's president.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Colorado district court, alleges
violations of Title IX and First and 14th Amendment rights stemming
from San Jose State's volleyball team allegedly having a transgender
player on its roster.

Current Nevada volleyball players Aleah �Sia� Liilii and Nicanora
Clarke were among the 12 plaintiffs in the lawsuit along with San Jose
State players or alums Brooke Slusser, who has joined a lawsuit against
the NCAA, Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson; San Jose State assistant
coach Melissa Batie-Smoose; Utah State player Kaylie Ray; Wyoming
players Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle and Jordan Sandy; and Boise State
players Katelyn Van Kirk and Kiersten Van Kirk.

The lawsuit also requests emergency injunctive relief in advance of the
MW women's volleyball tournament in Las Vegas, which starts Nov. 27.

Among the defendants are the MW and commissioner Gloria Nevarez; the
Board of Trustees of the University of the California State University;
Laura Alexander, San Jose State's Senior Associate Athletics Director
for Student Wellness and Leadership Development; San Jose State head
volleyball coach Todd Kress; Michelle McDonald Smith, San Jose State's
Senior Director of Media Relations; and San Jose State president
Cynthia Teniente-Matson.

"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," the
lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit was filed in Colorado, the same state that's home the MW,
which is located in Colorado Springs.

Four MW teams have forfeited matches against San Jose State this
season, including Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada. In each
case but Nevada, the schools announced it would not play San Jose
State. In the Wolf Pack's case, the players announced they would
forfeit the game with the school saying it could not legally cancel its
match over the gender identity of an opposing player, citing the Nevada constitution and First Amendment right to expression. The Wolf Pack's
match with San Jose State was eventually canceled when Nevada did not
have enough players to take the court. Additionally, Southern Utah
canceled its non-conference match with San Jose State.

The Spartans' roster has been ruled fully eligible by the NCAA and USA volleyball, which allows transgender athletes to compete in women's
sports with proof they have met a serum testosterone requirement for at
least one year and shown proof at the start of the competitive season,
with further documentation before any championship competition. The
player in question has been a member of San Jose State for three
seasons without any forfeitures. Nevada split two matches with San Jose
State in 2023 and lost its lone match against the Spartans in 2022. The transgender athlete played in one of those three matches.

The lawsuit argues the San Jose State player in question should be
ineligible to play in the MW Tournament and the Spartans transporting
that player to the conference tournament is a violation of Title IX, a
federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs
and activities that receive federal funding.

The suit argues the player appearing in games is a violation of the
Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth
Amendment was passed by Congress in 1866 and extended the Bill of
Rights' rights and liberties to formerly enslaved people. The lawsuit
also claims the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights were encroached upon
by San Jose State and the MW's Transgender Participation Policy (TPP),
which the suit claims was only created after Boise State became the
first MW team to forfeit its match with San Jose State.

"Review of the existing MWC policies, which do not set forth a clear
policy or practice of imposing losses upon teams which choose not to
play for safety reasons, also supports the conclusion the MWC TPP was specifically adopted to chill protests and other expressive conduct,
including boycotts, on a women�s rights issue," the lawsuit reads.

Still, Slusser and Nevada's players have publicly discussed their
opposition to transgender women playing college athletics, both with
local and national media, including interviews on Fox News, among other outlets. Liilii also has attended rallies and co-authored an article
that appeared on Fox News in support of a Donald Trump presidency.
Several Wolf Pack volleyball players appeared at a "Women's Sports are
for Women Only" rally in Reno on the day the team was supposed to play
San Jose State.

Nevada said any players who opted not to play San Jose State would not
face team punishment, nor have they after the Wolf Pack forfeited the
match.

Since Nevada announced it would not play San Jose State, the team has
gone 1-6 (1-7 if you include its forfeit to San Jose State) after
starting the season 10-8. During that losing stretch, the Wolf Pack has
a 20-8 set disadvantage and most recently lost to Air Force, which
entered the match 2-22. Nevada lost to New Mexico, which had lost nine
straight matches, in its previous outing. The Wolf Pack has lost its
last six matches entering Thursday's game against San Diego State in
Reno.

You can read the full lawsuit below.

https://www.scribd.com/document/792017052/Slusser-Et-Al-v-Mountain- West-Conference-Et-Al#download&from_embed

https://nevadasportsnet.com/newsletter-daily/nevada-volleyball-players- among-those-suing-mountain-west-san-jose-state-officials

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