Things are heating up out in the Mountain West Conference, and I'm not talking football or basketball - I'm talking women's volleyball (or at least mostly-women's volleyball).
Check this out:
Yup, these ladies have filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference for their unfair treatment of women compared to the one trans athlete in the conference, as well as violating their First Amendment rights.
Here are some details:
A dozen women have filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference and its commissioner, along with officials at San Jose State University. They allege violations of Title IX and of their First Amendment rights, all stemming from the presence of transgender player Blaire Fleming on the San Jose State roster, OutKick has learned.
The plaintiffs, which include San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser and two former Spartans, as well as athletes from four other Mountain West schools, allege the conference adopted a new ‘Transgender Participation Policy' in an attempt to ‘chill and suppress the free speech rights of women athletes.'
The suit seeks emergency injunctive relief so the case can be settled before the Mountain West tournament, which begins November 27. We've told you about Blaire Flemming and the unfair advantage gained by San Jose State by having this person on their roster.
Several teams forfeited games against the Spartans for this reason.
What we hadn't caught wind of is the Mountain West's new Transgender Participation Policy.
According to the filing, the Mountain West adopted a new ‘Transgender Participation Policy' on the same day in September that Boise State forfeited its match against San Jose State, becoming the first conference team to do so.
The suit alleges Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, named as a defendant, believed the ‘burgeoning controversy' around Fleming could lead multiple teams to protest like Boise State.
‘This new policy was clearly intended to chill and suppress the free speech rights of women athletes in the MWC,' the suit claims.
The filing further contends this new ‘Transgender Participation Policy' (TPP) was adopted hastily with the sole intention of stopping other schools from exercising their First Amendment rights, and suggests it was instituted outside the normal course of Mountain West rules and procedures.
The Independent Council on Women's Sports is funding the lawsuit, and supporters can donate here.
What's more, the lawsuit is asking for either Blaire Fleming or the entire San Jose team to be disqualified from the Mountain West tournament, and for the standings to remove all of the forfeited games so the tournament's seeding reflects reality.
And it's not just the Mountain West being named here as a defendant. San Jose volleyball coach Todd Cress is being accused of showing favoritism to Fleming as he, too, is a member of the LGBTQIABCDEFG+ community.
According to the lawsuit, Batie-Smoose confronted Kress about what she perceived to be ‘preferential treatment toward Fleming' that was unfair to the women on the team …
In addition, the filing states, ‘Kress has sought to characterize the positions of women student-athletes at SJSU who do believe Fleming is disqualified by sex from being on the women's volleyball team as ‘hateful' and referred to them in disparaging and vile terms.'
Kress, when recently asked about favoritism toward Fleming, told OutKick he supports ‘marginalized groups.'
Another San Jose State volleyball player also accuses Cress of giving Fleming a spot on the school's beach volleyball team when it was promised to her as part of her scholarship - a scholarship which she would lose.
We're 13 days out from the Mountain West volleyball tournament in Las Vegas, so with this lawsuit seeking a quick process, we should get some answers soon out of the conference.
