Judge refuses to ban San José State volleyball player targeted by anti-trans suit

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The San Jose State women's volleyball team is eligible to compete in the postseason tournament starting tomorrow. That's after a federal judge in Colorado rejected a bid to block the team from the tournament because it includes a player that plaintiffs say is transgender. From member station KQED in San Francisco, Natalia Navarro reports.

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NATALIA NAVARRO, BYLINE: This is just the latest legal action that has brought a slew of political and media attention to the San Jose Spartans. The team's co-captain, Brooke Slusser, along with several other Mountain West Conference players, say this woman's participation in the tournament violates Title IX. That's the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment in educational settings. The player has not commented publicly on her gender identity, so we're not naming her in this story. Here's Shiwali Patel with the National Women's Law Center.

SHIWALI PATEL: I'm pleased with the judge's decision, and the decision affirms what we know - that Title IX protects trans students from discrimination based on their gender identity.

NAVARRO: Patel says cases like this have led to increased scrutiny for all women and girls, especially those who don't fit gender stereotypes, like the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif at the last Paris Olympics. The plaintiffs have appealed the decision. This all began in September, when Slusser joined a different group of people suing the NCAA for its transgender participation policy. Since then, four universities have refused to play the Spartans. Ashland Johnson is the founder of The Inclusion Playbook, a consulting company that's worked with the NCAA. She says the association has walked back their inclusion policies in the face of political pressure.

ASHLAND JOHNSON: It's not that difficult having them err on the side of inclusion. The only time they're deterred is they're getting hit with dozens or hundreds of emails from people, like, spewing hate speech.

NAVARRO: Both lawsuits are funded by the same anti-trans advocacy group.

JOHNSON: A lot of these people don't care about women's sports. If they did, they would be arguing for the things that women have always asked for, which was, like, more money, more resources, better coaching, better facilities.

NAVARRO: The NCAA declined to comment. SJSU officials said all players are eligible to participate, under conference rules. The Spartans now head to the Mountain West tournament as the No. 2 seed.

For NPR News, I'm Natalia Navarro.

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