- Gov. Cox and state legislative leaders ask Utah State University to join lawsuit challenging Mountain West Conference's transgender policy.
- Utah State asks to join lawsuit against Mountain West Conference seeking disqualification of San Jose State volleyball player.
- Utah's U.S. congressional delegation add their signatures to letter urging Mountain West to update guidelines to "prohibit biological males" from competing in women's sports.
Utah’s top political leaders — including Gov. Spencer Cox, ranking state legislative leaders and the entire U.S. congressional delegation — voiced unified opposition Monday to a Mountain West Conference policy allowing “biological men” to compete in women’s sports.
Citing a need to “defend our female athletes,” Cox was joined by Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz in calling for action in a high-profile lawsuit involving college transgender athletes.
The three men asked Utah State University on Monday “to move to intervene” in the lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference and San Jose State University that was filed last week in a U.S. District Court.
Their request was later granted Monday when Utah State formally asked to join the lawsuit seeing to disqualify a member of the San Jose State volleyball team from women’s play.
Cox, Adams and Schultz issued a joint statement on Monday:
“Female athletes deserve the right to a safe playing field, fair competition and equal opportunities. By intervening, Utah will send a clear message that these rights are non-negotiable. The NCAA, Mountain West Conference and other institutions across the nation have failed to take action, thereby undermining vital protections and putting female athletes at risk. We will continue to defend our female athletes and the integrity of our athletic programs.”
USU now joins 11 women volleyball players from five universities and a coach in requesting that the court prohibit the Mountain West Conference from enforcing its transgender participation policy.
The university filed a motion to be included as a limited plaintiff in regard to the lawsuit’s request for a preliminary injunction to disqualify San Jose State’s Blaire Fleming from the tournament, KSL reported.
Its motion states: “USU’s interests in the well-being of its women’s volleyball members and student-athletes, the success of its team at the MWC tournament and potentially the NCAA tournament, and its compliance obligations under Title IX could all possibly be affected by the court’s resolution of the (preliminary injunction) motion.”
The university’s motion notes that San Jose State is currently ahead of USU in the conference standings.
“Both teams still have regular season matches to play,” the filing states. “But as of right now, SJSU has a better winning percentage and will receive a higher tournament seed (and first-round bye) solely because the MWC (Transgender Participation Policy) awarded SJSU a win and punished USU with a loss for USU volleyball team’s decision not to play SJSU’s team rostering a transgender female during the regular season.”
Utah’s congressional delegation adds collective voices
Meanwhile, Utah’s congressional leaders added their signatures Monday to a letter addressed to Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez.
“We write with serious concerns about the safety and fair competition standards for female athletes participating in the Mountain West Conference,” the letter opened. “We urge you to update your student-athlete guidelines to prohibit biological males from competing against biological female students in women’s sports.”
The letter goes on to say that Title IX was established 50 years ago to “even the playing field” for women.
“Title IX recognizes the fundamental biological differences between men and women and allows each to pursue educational programs and activities equally, including athletics,” the letter said. “Failure to recognize these biological differences between males and females puts our daughters and granddaughters in harm’s way.”
The letter concludes by noting that life isn’t fair — “but sports should be.”
Letter signees include Utah Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney and Utah Reps. Burgess Owens, John Curtis, Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore.
The Utah contingent was joined in the letter to the Mountain West commissioner by several U.S. senators and representatives from Idaho and Wyoming.
Calls to remove Spartan athlete from volleyball competition
Monday’s response from state political leaders and subsequent court action from Utah State University was prompted, in part, by a lawsuit filed last week by a volleyball coach and current and former college volleyball players against the Mountain West Conference and SJSU.
The suit’s plaintiffs are seeking “emergency injunctive relief” that would declare a transgender player at San Jose State University ineligible from competing in the conference’s upcoming volleyball championship in Las Vegas on Nov. 27-30, according to The Athletic.
Counted among the plaintiffs are San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, a pair of former SJSU players and players from four other Mountain West Conference schools.
They are alleging that SJSU and the conference violated the U.S. Constitution and Title IX by allowing a transgender athlete to play for a women’s sports team — and by suppressing free speech rights of those protesting the athlete’s participation.
Several schools — including Utah State and Southern Utah University — have forfeited volleyball matches with the Spartans this season.
Last week’s lawsuit is just the latest court action taken in connection with the SJSU volleyball issue.
Co-plantiff Slusser is also part of a separate lawsuit filed against the NCAA earlier this year petitioning for changes in the organization’s policy on transgender athletes.
And last month, assistant coach Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint with SJSU, the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA “alleging discrimination against women,” The Athletic reported, adding the coach was suspended from her duties a few days later.
As reported earlier in the Deseret News, the NCAA has a clear policy in regard to transgender athletes in collegiate sports that was updated in May 2024.
Eligibility is determined on a sport-by-sport basis, aligning with current International Olympic Committee policy.
“The resulting sport-by-sport approach preserves opportunity for transgender student-athletes while balancing fairness, inclusion and safety for all who compete,” the NCAA’s transgender student-athlete participation policy reads.
For college volleyball, the NCAA’s eligibility rules for transgender players come from USA Volleyball. In both settings, “transgender women are deemed eligible if they suppress their testosterone under 10 nmol/L,” according to ESPN.
Although San Jose State has not commented on the identity of the school’s transgender player due to privacy laws, the school has said that “all of its players are eligible to compete on its women’s volleyball team,” ESPN reported.
Statements from the Mountain West Conference, SJSU
Following last week’s lawsuit, the Mountain West released the following statement:
“The Mountain West Conference prioritizes the best interests of our student-athletes and takes great care to adhere to NCAA and MW policies,” the statement said, per ESPN. “While we are unable to comment on the pending litigation of this particular situation, we take seriously all concerns of student-athlete welfare and fairness.”
As of Thursday, SJSU officials said they had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
“We have not been served with the lawsuit. We obtained a copy of the 132-page document late Wednesday afternoon,” SJSU said in a statement, per The Athletic. “We will not comment at this time.”
So what happens next?
As the Deseret News reported last week, the new lawsuit includes a request for emergency relief, meaning that the players who sued want the SJSU’s transgender player to be declared ineligible before the case is fully briefed and argued.
If that request is granted, SJSU and the Mountain West conference will have the opportunity to appeal the decision.
Regardless of what happens ahead of the Mountain West Conference tournament, the case will likely continue to work its way through the federal court system over the next several months, the Deseret News report noted.
Looking ahead to the Mountain West conference volleyball tourney
The Spartans women’s volleyball team is currently in second place in the Mountain West Conference standings with a conference record of 12-5. The games forfeited by conference opponents Utah State, Boise State, Wyoming and Nevada are classified as SJSU victories.
The top six teams based on regular season conference record qualify for the Mountain West Conference championship tournament.
Utah State’s women’s volleyball team is currently in fourth place.