About a week ago, an issue that has vexed some politicians, as well as university officials and college athletes, hit Nevada.
On the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team, one player claimed to “out” another player as transgender in a sports commentary outlet owned by Fox Corporation. That same player joined a federal lawsuit against the NCAA. The suit claims allowing transgender athletes to compete is a violation of Title 9, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
That other player has not spoken publicly about her gender identity or addressed the issue. We are not revealing her name.
After that, four volleyball teams in the Mountain West athletic conference said they would forfeit their games against San Jose State.
About a week ago, the University of Nevada, Reno's volleyball players also voted against playing SJSU, citing fairness and safety. The university said the game will be played, but if players didn’t show up, they would not be penalized for it.
At UNLV, however, the volleyball team voted to do just the opposite: they unanimously voted to compete against SJSU. And they competed against them two Saturdays ago, defeating SJSU 3-1.
Some politicians are weighing in. Former President Donald Trump said he would ban all transgender athletes. In Nevada, Lieutenant Governor Stavros Anthony released a statement in support of the UNR team. Then Gov. Joe Lombardo issued a statement supporting them.
The governor rarely talks to the media, but the lieutenant governor did talk with Nevada Public Radio. We also talked to researchers, one of whom is a volunteer on the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.
UNR is scheduled to play the Spartans in Reno on Oct. 26. UNLV faces the team again on Nov. 7.
Guests: Stavros Anthony, lieutenant governor, Nevada; Bradley Anawalt, professor of medicine, University of Washington and member, NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports; Brooke Maylath, past president, Transgender Allies Group; Martin Schiller, executive director, Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine
