University of Nevada officials deny that they pressured the players of the women’s volleyball team to play against a team with a transgender player despite their safety concerns.
The University of Nevada, Reno Athletic Director Stephanie Rempe is denying accusations that the school pressured the women to play against San Jose State University even though the women had openly stated that they do not feel it is either fair or safe to play against SJSU’s transgender player, Blaire Fleming.
Nevada team captain Sia Liilii had gone public with claims that school officials had accused the players of “not understanding science” and were pressured to “reconsider their position” in favor of forfeiting a game against SJSU.
“We felt unsafe and dismissed,” Liilii exclaimed. “We met with our school officials to give them our team’s new statement, but they wouldn’t even hear it. We were told that we weren’t educated enough and that we didn’t understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position.”
Rempe, however, says she has “no knowledge” of any pressure or accusations that the players “don’t understand science.” She does admit to having met with the players, Fox News reports.
“The deputy athletic director and I met with the volleyball team and coaching staff on Oct. 7, where every member of the team had an opportunity to share their feelings about the situation, ask questions, give their input on next steps, and we provided the opportunity for resources,” Rempe said.
“I did not tell, and am unaware of any member of the athletics administrative team telling members of our women’s volleyball team that they ‘weren’t educated enough,’ that they ‘didn’t understand the science,’ that they should reconsider their position or that they should ‘stay quiet’ regarding their participation in an Oct. 26 match that was scheduled against San Jose State University.”
Some at the university worried that if the team refused to play specifically because of a transgender player, it would violate state law. With Article I, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution guaranteeing “Equality of Rights under the law” based on sexual orientation and gender identity, officials said that if the school pinned its refusal to play against SJSU based on Blaire Fleming, it would be an illegal act.
However, the school skirted that provision by pinning the forfeit on not having enough players to play against SJSU instead of saying they wouldn’t play because they did not want to face a transgender player.
“The University of Nevada, Reno’s decision to not play its scheduled Mountain West Conference match at San José State on Saturday, Oct. 26 was based on no,t having enough players to compete and not based on gender identity or expression. This does not violate the Nevada Constitution,” school officials said in a statement.
Rempe also apologized to the women for not conferring with them more directly in its initial claims that the team would play whether the women wanted to or not.
The director told the media that she and her staff met with the team and “shared our genuine apology for not sharing the statement released on October 3 before their match against UNLV. As has been stated on multiple occasions, we continue to support the rights of the volleyball players who choose and choose not to participate.”
Rempe also reiterated that none of the dissenting players would face disciplinary measures for refusing to play SJSU.
Four other college teams have also boycotted games against San Jose State due to its inclusion of transgender player Blaire Fleming.
The four other teams, Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State, have refused to play against San Jose State.
Trans opponents have seriously injured several women and girls over the last several years, and those injuries have caused a lot of female athletes to pause their support for radical transgenderism.
The NCAA is also being sued by several groups over its policy of allowing transgender players to play as women.
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