Saving Women’s College Sports: The Ways Transgender Athletes Remove Fairness From Athletics
Christians face many moral dilemmas today, and the spotlight recently shone on transgender athletes playing women’s sports. One would expect a society that claims to be “pro-women” to protect and support female athletes; however, this is far from the truth, as transgender (male to female) athletes across the nation are being permitted to play among and against biological women.
This controversy recently manifested as a women’s volleyball player at San Jose State University. This player, Blaire Fleming, was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman. Fleming has played on women’s sports teams for much of their life, going seemingly unnoticed until more people discovered the truth about their identity.
This issue was first brought to the limelight in September, when Southern Utah University decided to forfeit its match and take a loss rather than play against a team with a biological male. This inciting incident sparked a chain reaction, leading to four other teams’ refusals to play against SJSU. Most recently, the Boise State team announced that it plans to forfeit its second scheduled game against SJSU Nov. 21, according to OutKick.
Among the teams that forfeited was the University of Nevada, which decided not to play in its match against SJSU Oct. 26.
“We demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld,” University of Nevada volleyball players said in a statement. “We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.”
Fleming is a redshirt senior who stands at an intimidating 6 feet and 1 inch tall. Fleming was born a biological male under the name Brayden but chose to undergo a transition and live life as a woman. This athlete has played their entire volleyball career on girl’s teams despite being physically larger and stronger than both teammates and opponents.
The NCAA has permitted transgender athletes to play, but only if they comply with terms such as submitting testosterone levels to the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. While these terms are supposed to ensure “fair” play, is this enough to protect the women who have to play against trans athletes? Even more so, is it ethical?
In recent years, we have seen more instances of trans athletes winning awards in women’s categories, thus taking the awards away from biological women who have worked their entire lives to excel in their sport. Take Lia Thomas for example, the first trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I national swimming championship. This took the spotlight and title away from Riley Gaines, a female swimmer who deserved to be recognized for her accomplishments.
Transgender athletes have no place in women’s sports, and the NCAA is doing its female athletes a disservice by allowing trans athletes to compete on the same level.
God created men and women — the men with the special purpose to be fierce protectors — thus creating biological and genetic differences between the two. No matter how much estrogen a man consumes, he is still a man at his core.
As far as SJSU goes, several of Fleming’s own teammates have spoken out against the issue and even stated that they were unaware of Fleming’s biological identity. Brooke Slusser, the team’s co-captain and Fleming’s former roommate, joined the Title IX lawsuit that several other female NCAA athletes have petitioned. Congress passed Title IX in 1972, which keeps men’s and women’s sports separate in educational institutions.
“You can say whatever you want to say, but there’s only one right answer here that does nothing with politics: Men don’t deserve to be in women’s sports,” Slusser said in an interview with OutKick.
With opponents forfeiting matches left and right, SJSU’s record is stacking up with undeserved wins. What is happening here is the opposite of female empowerment; rather, it is theft. No woman is empowered by losing to a male in a sport that was intended to showcase the strength and power of women in an area already dominated by men.
If we continue to allow transgender athletes to play alongside women, it will be the demise of women’s sports. Future generations of girls will lose accolades because they will be given to the boy on the team. This is a future that I do not want to live in. This situation only brings society backward, as if taking away the freedoms that women generations before us fought for.
White is the asst. sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X.
