Republicans demand trans athletes are banned from women's sports in conference hit by volleyball scandal

Thirteen Republican congressmembers have written the Mountain West Conference to urge commissioner Gloria Nevarez to ban transgender athletes from playing sports against cisgender women.

The letter comes amid ongoing controversy over one of the conference's leading volleyball players, Blaire Fleming, who is reportedly transgender. The redshirt senior and transfer from Coastal Carolina currently ranks third in the Mountain West in points and fourth in kills. The Spartans have won seven matches by forfeit this season as a string of rivals have refused to play against Fleming.

'We write with serious concerns about the safety and fair competition standards for female

athletes participating in the Mountain West Conference,' read the open letter signed by members of the House and Senate. 'We urge you to update your student athlete guidelines to prohibit biological males from competing against biological female students in women's sports.'

The signees include Wyoming senator Cynthia Lummis, Idaho senator Mike Crapo, and Burgess Owens, the Tennessee congressman who previously won a Super Bowl as a defensive back for the Oakland Raiders at the end of the 1980 season.

The 13 legislators argue that the presence of a trans athlete on a women's team undermines Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or educational institution that receives federal funding.

'Recently, members of your conference have forfeited games, risking their competitive standings

to ensure the safety of their female athletes,' the letter continued. 'The Mountain West Conference's failure to prohibit biological males from competing in women's sports is unfair to the women and girls who have worked tirelessly to compete at the collegiate level.

'We applaud the bravery of these female athletes and the universities in our home states for taking a stand to preserve Title IX when the Mountain West Conference would not.'

In arguing that the conference is failing to create an 'environment that allows women to compete without fearing for their safety,' the legislators pointed to NCAA rival, the NAIA.

'In April, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) voted unanimously to allow only students 'whose biological sex is female to compete in women's sports,' the letter continued.

'The NAIA decision is a significant step toward protecting the rights and opportunities of female athletes.'

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the forfeitures, citing a need for fairness in women's sports. President-elect Donald Trump recently referenced a volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women's sports.

'I saw the slam, it was a slam,' he said, presumably referring to a recent viral clip showing Fleming spiking the ball off an opponent, who was admittedly 'fine.'

'I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,' Trump added.

After Trump's comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said 'it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.'

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians' 'fairness' references, and Nevarez did not go into details when addressing the controversy last month.

'I'm learning a lot about the issue,' Nevarez said. 'I don't know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It's political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.'

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament November 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

'The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it's a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,' Nevarez said.

San Jose State coach Todd Kress said playing was his team's 'safe haven' and noted that security and police escorts are now involved when his team takes the court. He has not discussed specific players publicly since the forfeits began.

'I know that it's definitely taken a toll on many of them. They're receiving messages of hate, which is completely ridiculous to me,' he said in Albuquerque. 'Some of those people are the underbelly of society that you attack an 18, 19, 20-year-old female. And even more so if you're a parent and you're attacking 18, 19 or 20-year-olds.

'Would you want your student-athlete, your daughter, to face the same kind of hate that you're dishing out?'