The women’s volleyball teams from Southern Utah University, Boise State University and the University of Wyoming have all chosen to forfeit games against San Jose State University (SJSU) rather than play against a biological male opponent who is pretending to be a woman.
The decision to forfeit their games is the latest in a fight to protect collegiate women volleyball players whose safety is at risk from men pretending to be women.
🚨Breaking: University of Wyoming Women’s Volleyball joins SUU and Boise State in refusing to compete against a team with a male player. They are the second Mountain West Conference team to forfeit a match against SJSU and the third team this season. https://t.co/2cDdLOR0ey pic.twitter.com/XSGPYKJF7j
— ICONS (@icons_women) October 1, 2024
None of the schools went into detail regarding the decision to forfeit the games and instead take a loss, a decision likely based in a desire to avoid further controversy over National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules that allow players like SJSU’s Blaire Fleming to compete.
Fleming is a male who identifies as a woman and claims a female identity.
The 6-foot-1 senior has been playing for SJSU since 2022 and has been playing collegiate volleyball since 2020.
Concerns for the safety of female team members forced to compete against a male opponent include concerns over privacy in women’s spaces including the locker room and with sleep accommodations during overnight travel.
There’s also the matter of female players being harmed by male opponents who claim to be women.
As a high school volleyball player, Payton McNabb suffered a concussion and long-term physical and psychological harm after being spiked in the face by a cross-dressing male competitor.
McNabb has become an outspoken opponent of men competing in women’s sports and is proof that an 80 mph spike from a male rival does more than just hurt feelings.
Just getting back from my second doctor appointment this week, a year and a half later, I’m definitely going to have to disagree. My life is forever changed because of an injury by a boy.
So yeah… men have harmed women in our sports. But as long as your feelings don’t get… https://t.co/nhDMlEXprg
— payton mcnabb (@paytonmcnabb_) March 21, 2024
The schools who chose to forfeit their volleyball games against SJSU were wise not to give social justice warriors enough information to convene formal struggle sessions over gender politics.
Until the NCAA stops enabling men competing in women’s sports, refusing to take part in someone else’s carefully constructed fantasy may be the best way to bring this particular delusion to halt.
There are only two ways to stop the madness of men in women’s sports. First is for women to refuse to participate. In short, go on strike. The second is to wait for a new and sane administration to step in and stop it.
The latter is a passive approach that relies on others to act as though women have no agency. Far better, women should take responsibility for their own fate and act in their own defense.
Strike!!