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Women's volleyball team with transgender player getting police protection amid backlash and lawsuit
The San Jose State women’s volleyball team is getting added security in the form of police protection amid a national controversy over a transgender player on the team, according to a university spokesperson.
“I can confirm that we are using university police to provide extra security for the team at their home and away games,” San Jose State’s Senior Director of Media Relations Michelle Smith-McDonald told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
The university’s police department annually documents about 60,000 incidents, arrests between 800 and 900 suspects and writes about 2,500 reports. The Police Communications Center dispatches personnel to more than 50,000 calls for service each year, according to the station’s website.
However, Smith-McDonald said the department’s resources are now necessary for the volleyball team due to the scale of national media attention the team has garnered in recent weeks.
“The safety of our students is our top priority. The team has been a subject of significant attention, not all of it positive, and we are ensuring their security,” Smith-McDonald said.
Blaire Fleming, a transgender athlete, has played three seasons at SJSU after previously playing at Coastal Carolina. (San Jose State University)
The team is coming off of a loss against Colorado State on the road on Thursday, in which Blaire Fleming, a transgender female, took the court for San Jose State. Fleming transferred to San Jose State in 2022 from Coastal Carolina. As a biological male, Fleming previously set a high school record at John Champe High School with 30 kills in a match and a single-season record of 266 kills for the school’s girls’ volleyball team.
Footage on Fleming’s Hudl page of the school-record 30-kill match in September 2019 shows how hard and fast Fleming’s spikes came down at the high school level against girl opponents.
The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) requires transgender women to submit documentation including testosterone levels before a decision is made on their eligibility to play. San José State has said they are in full compliance with NCAA rules.
However, the program is still facing resistance in the form of a lawsuit from one of its own players over Fleming’s presence on the team and in the locker room. Four other competing programs have also forfeited matches against San Jose State without providing a specific reason, after news of the lawsuit began to spread.
Brooke Slusser, a member of San Jose’s women’s volleyball team, joined 18 other athletes in suing the NCAA over its current gender identity policies. The lawsuit alleged Slusser, who transferred to San Jose, felt concerned for her safety after realizing one of her new teammates was transgender.
Slusser joined in the lawsuit that former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines began earlier this year over having to share a locker room with and compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who tied with Gaines at the 2022 NCAA championships.
Slusser claimed she was not aware that Fleming was transgender despite sharing rooms together on team trips, per the court documents. Slusser also expressed safety concerns for opponents playing against Fleming.
“Brooke estimates that Fleming’s spikes were traveling upward of 80 mph, which was faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball,” Slusser’s complaint read. “The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes but still could not fully protect themselves.”
GOP GOVERNOR REVEALS WHY HE ORDERED SCHOOLS TO BAR TRANSGENDERS FROM GIRLS SPORTS
One of Blaire Fleming’s teammates joined several other female athletes in suing the NCAA for Title IX violations. (San Jose State University)
The four teams that have forfeited matches against San Jose State in recent weeks are Boise State, Southern Utah, Wyoming and Utah State.
Colorado State, however, opted to play their match against San Jose State on Thursday. It just so happened to be Colorado State’s annual inclusive excellence game. The University of Nevada also preemptively committed to playing San Jose State on Oct. 26, Nevada announced in a statement on Thursday.
The controversy surrounding whether Fleming should be allowed to compete and share locker rooms with women’s volleyball players has resulted in impassioned arguments on both sides of the issue.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox have each commended the universities in their respective states, Boise State in Idaho and Utah State and Southern Utah in Utah, for forfeiting their matches against San Jose State.
“It is essential that we preserve a space for women to compete fairly and safely. 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 and protect our female student athletes,” Cox wrote in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Little, who passed an executive order in his state on Aug. 28 aimed to oppose transgender inclusion in girls’ and women’s sports, commended his order for playing into Boise State’s decision to forfeit.
“I applaud Boise State for working within the spirit of my Executive Order, the Defending Women’s Sports Act,” Little’s post on X read. “We need to ensure player safety for all of our female athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women’s sports.”
Blaire Fleming, #3, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays as an outside and right-side hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)
Little previously told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that there were no incidents of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports that occurred in his state that factored into his executive order prior to him passing it. Now, Boise State has ensured that trend continues.
“Obviously, a person with those kind of advantages, somebody that had competed previously in male sports and then transitioned over to compete in women’s sports, that’s what I’m certain the good people of Idaho think is wrong and shouldn’t happen,” Little said.
“From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to implement changes in the rules that we have already. I’m confident in what we have, and we will aggressively (act), as the state of Idaho, both legally and legislatively to protect women’s athletes and the great advances they’ve made because of Title IX.”
However, LGBTQ rights groups have advocated for Fleming’s right to compete as a women’s volleyball player.
LGBTQ advocacy group Wyoming Equality communications coordinator Santi Murillo released a statement on Wednesday saying, “Athletics should be about fostering teamwork, growth and healthy competition — not about discrimination and exclusion.” The statement was in response to the University of Wyoming canceling its match against San Jose State when it became the third program to do so on Tuesday.
New Jersey Democrat congressional candidate Sue Altman went so far as to say that women athletes in locker rooms “aren’t worried” about transgenders competing in their sports and that biological men should be able to compete in girls’ sports at the youth level.
“I promise you that in the locker rooms of women’s sports teams, we’re not super worried about this,” Altman told the New York Post.
“If we decide as a society that making rules about who is and who isn’t female is more important than giving young children a chance to be on teams and compete and to be part of something bigger than themselves, especially young people who are more susceptible to suicide and bullying, then I think we’ve lost our way a little bit.”
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Towns like Elko, Ely, and Panaca host some of Nevada’s most distinctive summer county fairs. Some of them are also among the state’s oldest such gatherings, with Winnemucca’s Tri-County Fair a staple since 1885, the Elko County Fair running since 1920, and Ely’s White Pine County races organized in 1934 to lift Depression-era spirits. For sheer natural beauty, Panaca takes top spot for its proximity to Cathedral Gorge State Park, while Eureka stages its fair just off US-50, the highway tagged the Loneliest Road in America. Discover what each has to offer.
Elko
The largest county seat in northeastern Nevada, Elko hosts the state’s marquee summer fair. The Elko County Fair was first held in September 1920 and now runs over two weekends around Labor Day at the Elko County Fairgrounds. The main event for the 20,000 or so visitors who attend is the live parimutuel horse racing, a betting format with no fixed odds in which payouts are split among the holders of winning tickets.
Over several race days, Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses compete in front of the fairground’s historic grandstand. Other equestrian draws include the Livestock Show and Sale, a rodeo, and night barrel racing, while non-horse events include a carnival, livestock barns, and art exhibits.
Ely
Over in the remote mining town of Ely on the eastern edge of the state, the White Pine County Fair and Horse Races dominate the summer social calendar. Held the third weekend of August, the first races were organized by local ranchers and business owners in 1934 to lift spirits during the Great Depression. They have run nearly every year since at the White Pine County Fairgrounds.
A field of about 150 Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses competes over the three days of the event, with parimutuel betting with no fixed odds, making it fun for everyone. Things kick off on Friday with a ranch rodeo featuring bronc riding, team roping, and mutton busting, a children’s event in which kids ride sheep. Live music, a barbecue, youth events and exhibits, and a livestock auction round out the fairground fun.
Panaca
Tucked away in the high desert of southeastern Nevada, Panaca holds the Lincoln County Fair and Rodeo at the fairgrounds, Lincoln County Recreational Park, in early August. Now in its 58th year, the weekend centers around a rodeo and junior rodeo events for younger riders, as well as a gymkhana featuring horseback games like barrel racing and pole bending.
A celebratory pageant is also part of the fun and crowns local riders. The fair’s exhibit building fills with educational projects, baked goods, and produce grown in the surrounding Meadow Valley region. In the same week, the fairgrounds host Nevada’s Best Cow Dog Trial, a stock dog competition in which trained herding dogs move cattle through a timed course. An amateur ranch rodeo is also part of the fun and includes roping and bronc riding open to local competitors.
Gardnerville
Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in Carson Valley, Gardnerville hosts the Nevada Agricultural Fair over four days each July at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. One of the newest fairs in the state (it started in 2021 as the Silver and Sage Fair), this free event highlights the role of younger generations of farmers in agriculture.
Highlights include a livestock show and sale featuring cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits, and poultry raised by local youth farming groups. Stick around for the Nevada State Ewe Lamb Futurity, a unique competition spread out over three years that follows the progress of young breeding ewes. Indoor halls display canning, baked goods, garden produce, and art, and a youth livestock auction closes the fair on the final Sunday.
After dark, the fair hands its arena over to MAYHEMilition. This always-popular demolition derby sees drivers ram junk cars and pick-ups into one another until only one is left running. The lawnmower and figure-eight races are also fun.
Eureka
The small town of Eureka celebrates its county fair and rodeo in early August. The community’s most important summer gathering, the Eureka County Fair, keeps things traditional and old-fashioned, with an authentic working rodeo, livestock displays, and exhibits dedicated to young farmers.
It is a format that serves the locals well, with an unhurried pace that attracts ranching families from across the high desert region. The event has long served as a yearly reunion for the county’s scattered ranches and remains the busiest weekend on Eureka’s summer calendar. The fairgrounds lie just outside the downtown Eureka core, which looks much as it did in the 1880s.
Winnemucca
The seat of Humboldt County at the crossroads of Interstate 80 and US-95, Winnemucca celebrates its farming and ranching traditions with its Tri-County Fair and Stampede. Held over the Labor Day weekend, Humboldt County Agricultural District has staged the fair since 1885, making it one of the oldest continuous events of its kind in Nevada.
The star attraction is the Labor Day rodeo. Held at the Winnemucca Events Complex, it is accompanied by a downtown parade and live music. Other weekend fun includes a carnival complete with rides, farming exhibits, antique tractor displays, and a quirky pig wrestling contest in which teams chase a greased hog through a muddy pen.
Logandale
Set in Moapa Valley, northeast of Las Vegas, Logandale hosts the Clark County Fair & Rodeo each April at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Since 1988, this small southern Nevada community has built the event into one of the region’s biggest spring traditions, pairing a full county fair with five nights of professional PRCA and WPRA rodeo action.
More than 600 professional competitors come to town for classic rodeo events backed by top western stock contractors, while the fairgrounds fill with a carnival midway, livestock shows, 4-H and FFA exhibits, food stands, live entertainment, and family attractions. Held at 1301 W. Whipple Avenue, the event draws visitors from across southern Nevada and gives Clark County its own high-energy version of a rural fair weekend.
A Fun Summer Tradition
There is no doubt that the best Nevada county fairs succeed because of the communities they serve. Horses, livestock, and music have held these rural communities together for well over a century, giving each an opportunity not only to showcase their skills and traditions but also to let their hair down and have some old-fashioned fun.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — If you’ve driven or walked by the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, you’ve noticed it’s bone dry. The reason might be obvious to most: We live in the Southwest and have had little rain or snowpack. But as our community, especially farmers, struggle, are our leaders doing anything to solve this issue that seems to be recurring?
“I had been here like maybe a month ago, and there was some water, and then I came a week ago, and I was like, we literally can walk across the Rio Grande,” Kat Walker said.
Even though we live in the Southwest, that’s the reaction most locals have after realizing they can walk through the Rio Grande without getting a drop on them.
Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District CEO Jason Casuga said this year could go down as one of the worst for how much water we’ve received.
“There are communities out there that are suffering to a degree that we haven’t seen in a long, long time,” he said.
Farmers are one of the largest groups being impacted. Some haven’t been able to irrigate their crops in months.
“There are irrigators north of Isleta Pueblo who are 60 days out from the last day they irrigated. Sixty days. Let’s put that into perspective. And so that’s a struggle,” Casuga said.
This is the second summer in a row the Rio Grande has dried up. Right now, an 87-mile-long stretch has no water in the Rio Grande. Casuga said that’s normally in the 40-to-50-mile range.
What can be done?
Casuga believes tools like storing water could help our water issue.
“We have had bad years between the ’50s and now, but MRGCD and others could store water in upstream reservoirs, so in a dry year like this, we would be releasing water,” he said.
But actually doing that isn’t that simple because of what’s known as the Rio Grande Compact. It’s an agreement between New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas that essentially divvies up water from the Rio Grande Basin. It’s law in each state.
“Within the articles of the compact, depending on which article is triggered, you have operational restrictions, and the further that we get in debt as a state to the compact, the more operational restrictions we have,” he continued. “We haven’t violated it yet. We just are behind on our responsibility to deliver water.”
Casuga believes once the state is out of its compact debt, it will have a better chance at managing water. Because that debt means New Mexico can’t store water for itself right now, a restriction water managers wish wasn’t so rigid in dry years.
“I do think there are improvements we can make to delivering water under the compact that would free up some tools to help us manage drought better,” he continued. “Our processes need to be more flexible and more responsive when we have extreme drought.”
He said the state is working with the feds, but unfortunately, it’s a long process. So for now, things will be dry a bit longer.
Hope is in the forecast
Before 2022, the river in Albuquerque hadn’t gone dry like this in 40 years. Casuga reiterated: This is likely one of the worst droughts we’ve ever been in.
“The overall water year is not done yet, but it could go down as one of the worst or the worst years depending on the way the monsoon season shapes up,” he said.
The good news is a strong El Niño is forecast for this year, which could bring some much-needed precipitation.
“In terms of now, what we can do now, we’re really in the hands of whether it rains or not from this point to the end of the year, but I do think things are shaping up that give us indications we can have a much better snow year as we enter November through next March, and maybe we won’t be sitting here in a dry riverbed in July next year,” Casuga said.
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