Exclusive: ‘We all know the reason the games are canceled’: SJSU volleyball player speaks out against transgender teammate
NCAA volleyball player Brook Slusser said she doesn’t agree with having a male athlete on her team and knows it’s not right.
Controversy has swirled at San Jose State University since it was revealed that the undefeated team features a 6-foot-1-inch male player named Blaire Fleming, born Brayden.
In response to this situation, Slusser has joined a lawsuit against the NCAA that asks the collegiate body to stop allowing male athletes to compete against females and to keep them out of female locker rooms. The lawsuit stems from women’s aquatic competitions that included Lia Thomas, the “trans woman” who dominated the 2022 NCAA swimming championships.
In an exclusive interview with Blaze News, Slusser explained that she had “no idea” that she would be playing with a male when she transferred to San Jose State University from Alabama last year.
While Slusser noticed during her first practice at SJSU that there was “something different” about Fleming, she never imagined that there would be a man on the team.
“The way I was raised, I’ve never had to second-guess if someone is male or female,” the Texan said. “The power [of Blaire] was just something that I’d never seen before.”
“I was like, ‘That’s insane, but okay,'” she laughed.
Slusser said she wasn’t going to ask questions about why Fleming was hitting so hard because, at that point, there was no reason for her to believe there was a male on the team.
Rooming with a man
When she got to SJSU, Slusser said her coach told her there were “three girls on the team that are looking for a roommate.”
“That would be amazing,” Slusser recalled thinking, not knowing that one of those alleged girls was Fleming. The senior saw it as an opportunity to get to know her teammates while living off campus in an apartment. She jumped at the chance for the experience.
After rooming with Fleming on road trips, Slusser became suspicious as to why she was routinely being roomed with him despite her teammates rotating with other people. She later found out that Fleming was asked specifically whom he “felt comfortable” to room with and that Slusser was one of those people.
This was just one instance in which the male athlete’s feelings seemed to be placed over the rest of the team.
“I found it very odd that everyone else was getting switched around on away trips and I somehow kept getting roomed with the same person. Usually you get switched around … and I just kept getting roomed with [Fleming].”
After two months at SJSU, Slusser said she found out that Fleming is a man, at which point everything started to make sense.
However, staff at SJSU have seemed completely disinterested in how the majority of the women’s team feel about the situation and instead have chosen to focus on Fleming’s well-being.
“We’ve had meetings, and it’s a lot of just checking in on Blaire. … We were like ‘what about us?'” Slusser said. “It’s mostly just saying you can’t be the person to … identify Blaire’s gender identity. ‘Blaire needs to do that for himself,'” the girls are told.
Slusser said the most frustrating aspect of the ordeal is that team management knows how much this bothers the female players and that for seniors, their last chances to play volleyball at a high level are being whittled away.
“Everyone above you is telling you you shouldn’t be talking for Blaire, you need to make sure the other person is okay; and [the management] is not thinking about, ‘Are we okay?'” Slusser explained.
When asked whether Fleming is in the locker room with the women and if it’s uncomfortable, Slusser simply said, “Everyone’s in the locker room.”
“So … that’s that. It’s a team locker room,” Slusser said with a look of disappointment.
‘I fully support Boise State’s decision not to play us. If I was in their shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.’
Canceled games
Two teams have already pulled out of games against SJSU: Southern Utah and Boise State. Neither team has provided a specific reason for the forfeits, but Slusser said the reason is obvious.
“I think we all know the reason the games are canceled,” Slusser said. “I fully support Boise State’s decision not to play us. If I was in their shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.”
Nevada, which plays SJSU on October 26, is another team that could potentially back out as well.
The mother of Nevada’s Carissa Chainey recently gave an interview to the Daily Signal and remarked that she is “scared for every single player” who plays against Fleming, due to the higher risk of injury.
Slusser said her own family has been about as supportive as possible, adding that she couldn’t ask for better parents.
“My parents know this lawsuit is a lot bigger than just me,” Slusser said. “This is a way I can use my voice.”
“What I’m going through … is something, to my bones, I don’t agree with. It’s not right.”
Slusser concluded by saying that joining the lawsuit wasn’t a difficult choice for her in the end, as she has felt the need to speak out on others’ behalf for most of her life.
The college athlete strongly asserted that she wants to help make sure younger female athletes don’t have to go through the same thing.
“Right now it’s just about showing up to be the best you can for the team,” she added.
Slusser hopes other athletes will join the lawsuit. “You might be surprised.”
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