Denver, Colorado (AP) – A federal appeals court upheld a ruling Tuesday that allows a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member to play in this week’s Mountain West Conference tournament after a legal complaint said she should be ineligible on grounds that she is transgender.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with US Magistrate S. Kato Crews in Denver. He rejected the request for an emergency injunction, finding the players and others who challenged the league’s policy for allowing transgender athletes to participate should have filed the complaint earlier.
The players also asked that four teams who had conference losses for refusing to play against San Jose State during the regular season have those losses removed from their records and that the tournament be re-seeded based on the updated records.
The athlete has played for San Jose State since 2022, but her participation only became an issue this season. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player has also been in effect since 2022, the conference said.
Injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo, Judge Crews said, and her playing is the status quo.
