Collegiate teammate of trans volleyball player receives death threats after standing up for fairness in women’s sports
A heightened police presence was required at an NCAA women’s college volleyball game last week after one of the players received a “chilling” death threat over her opposition to biological men…
A heightened police presence was required at an NCAA women’s college volleyball game last week after one of the players received a “chilling” death threat over her opposition to biological men in women’s sports.
The police presence reportedly became necessary for the match between Colorado State University and San Jose State University (SJSU) after a threat against San Jose’s Brooke Slusser was received by a teammate via Instagram on Oct. 2.
The threat was an apparent response to Slusser’s Sept. 24 decision to join a lawsuit against the NCAA for alleged Title IX violations filed by more than a dozen other female athletes, including Riley Gaines, who advocates for biological women’s rights in sports. One of Slusser’s teammates, Blair Fleming, is a biological male who identifies as a woman.
The threat was so serious, Slusser said, the law enforcement response was to include police escorts for the athletes to and from their vehicles, in the locker rooms and in the gym, as well as armed officers and metal detectors at the entrances.
While she said she’s received mostly supportive messages since joining the suit, the threat on her life has understandably left her feeling uncertain.
“After being shown the threat, it was a very uneasy feeling. Just because everything else that I’ve gotten so far – if it’s not in support of me – is just… hate mail, basically,” Slusser told Reddux. “Just people behind their screens saying hateful things that don’t mean anything to me. But reading that, it sent chills through me at first, just because that’s someone threatening to physically harm me.”
In some ways Slusser’s case is unique, drawing extra attention because she’s the first teammate of a transgender athlete to join the suit.
Despite that extra attention, and even the threats, she’s determined to see the fight through to the end.
“It’s not something I am stressing about or anxious about because it’s the right thing to do. To my core I believe this is the right thing to do, and I think a lot of people agree with that. So, it’s just dealing with the ebb and flow of how this situation is going to play out.”
Still, her concerns are the same as the other athletes: safety and fairness in women’s sports.
Slusser says she made the decision after witnessing the sheer force with which her transgender teammate, Fleming, would spike the ball, raising concerns about safety of female athletes.
In fact, she says, the fear of getting hit by one of Fleming’s vicious strikes was a topic of regular discussion among her own teammates.
“One thing that’s important in this case is really the physical safety issues in volleyball,” Bill Bock, Slusser’s attorney, said at the time of her decision. “And that’s what they’re facing in practice every day. So, it’s just a crazy, misguided policy that steals athletic dreams from women and gives them to men, and at the same time, puts women’s health and safety in danger.
“She really views the NCAA transgender eligibility policies as an impediment to women’s achievement in sport and as an insurmountable obstacle that closes the door of athletic opportunity to many women.”
Slusser and the other women who have joined the lawsuit aren’t alone in their concerns. The issue of men competing in women’s sports has been hotly debated on the national level since University of Pennsylvania swimmer William Thomas, who is a biological male, began competing as Lia Thomas in the women’s division.
Thomas went on to dominate his newfound competition, including then-University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, despite his previously ranking near the bottom of his male competition.
In SJSU’s case, opponents have been forfeiting games rather than force its female players to face off against a man. On Oct. 2, Utah State University became the fourth school in the NCAA’s Mountain West Conference to forfeit a match this season.
“Maybe I’m missing it, but the SJSU volleyball team has a man playing on the team,” Jason Whitlock, host of the Fearless podcast with almost 800,000 followers on X, commented in a video he posted Oct. 3. “And, he is the best player on the women’s volleyball team.
“Yesterday, Utah State became the fourth school to say, ‘Nah, I ain’t doin’ that homie. I’m not sending my little girls, these little women, out there to play against a man. We’re not doing it.’ This is the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” he continued, going on to compare the actions of Riley Gaines and others standing up for “CIS” rights, to Rosa Parks’ 1955 stance against discrimination.
Representatives from SJSU have reportedly defended the school’s policy as simply following NCAA rules. They argue the school has no choice but to allow Fleming to compete on the women’s volleyball team and treat him like any other female athlete.