32 Comments

Hey folks: because the student is not public about their gender identity and everything about their trans status is hearsay, please don’t post their name. The name is easily found on major news sites and court filings, but here, let’s respect her privacy.

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Oops. Sorry. My bad. Didn’t even think about it. 🙁

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Totally fine!

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And just like that, we all became SJSU fans. Even those of yall who don’t watch sports 😁

But on a serious note, she’s played there for two years and no one batted an eye. It wasn’t until her teammate came out and started all this that it suddenly became a “problem”

There are women on the opposing teams who are as strong if not stronger and taller than her and yet she’s suddenly the “problem?”

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It was never about "fairness" or "biology".

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It never is. If it was, you'd see these people raising a fuss about how WNBA players are paid so little that they have to play overseas in the offseason, or how PWHL players have to have second jobs because they're not paid enough. Somehow, that doesn't matter because it's always and ever, about them.

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Nov 29
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That’s all that matters. We try to educate as best we can. We can’t force people to change their minds. But I’ve seen many a mind change just by playing next to a trans athlete and they realize that the stories are just made up and not true

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At some point tall or larger cis Trump voters are going to be harassed for "looking trans" and I will sit there watching with quiet smugness.

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I'll bring the popcorn as the tear themselves apart from the inside like they did the last time. It will be great to watch from here in Canada

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Go SJSU!!!

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Never had much interest in sports until now and I am rooting for SJSU all the way!

Also, wanted to share this riveting column by a USA Today sports columnist pointing out the absurdity of the anti-trans hysteria around this: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2024/11/25/san-jose-state-transgender-volleyball-ruling-mountain-west/76575142007/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG229FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYVZ96zQcWuwcF082lIyu6QNXSv5f_cx-0bi1yxdVSMGXhIjOVajA0LARA_aem_OzL7OQaB3orP56n-KUenMw

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It looks like the columnist, Nancy Armour, does that on the regular. Never thought I'd become a fan of a sports journalist (like you, I'm insufficiently interested in sports)!

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I have not followed this closely, so I may have missed comments from the Boise State players, it sounds like they are missing a chance to play in the semis because Idaho politicians want to grandstand against trans people.

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Boise already forfeited 2 games during the regular season. This was their third forfeiture to SJSU. Not sure if it was political pressure or the team's desire.

Either way at least they're consistent bigots...

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I sat between two 6’+ women in grad school and it had nothing to do with their gender identity. They were both just tall. There are *many*

women who are 6’ or over. Ugh.

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Like my 6’2” daughter. Some women are just tall. Of course I might have a bias because I used to coach girls basketball. 😀

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I hope she is getting the support she needs. I have been watching the games and from that I am sure she has some allies on her own team.

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Google hardest spikes in womens volleyball and you will see that there are plenty of women volleyball players who can spike harder than she does. She doesn't have an unfair advantage. Of course it's not about fairness. We shouldn't be surprised about that one.

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Now height is an issue? What next color of eyes.

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Similarly to basketball, height confers an advantage in volleyball (at least when playing close to the net). But even though the fraction of cisgender women six feet and over is small, it's still a large number, and the rules select for them (in the WBNA roster, which I've looked at some time ago, almost everyone is over six feet; Brittney Griner was just at the upper end of her cohort).

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Yep, eye color. Fortunately there's already a TTMTTP comic about it:

https://comicsbyxan.com/comic/eye-of-the-beholder/

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She's probably black, right? It always seems to be non-white cisgender female athletes who are accused of being trans in a one-two bigoted punch of transphobia and racism.

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No she's white and from her photo you would have no way of knowing that she's trans. She literally does not stand out in any way, shape, or form.

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No, she’s not. But I get what you’re saying. It’s often the case.

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Good news for all the team players and for SJSU! ❤️👏❤️👏❤️

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Had to check; the tallest woman in the world is over seven feet tall.

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Being six feet two (until age started its inevitable effect...), I know that 3 out of 10,000 European women are taller than me. Seems like a small number, and yet once when I was waiting for my car after a women's networking dinner in San Jose, *three* other women either directly adjacent to me or close by were as tall; one was even taller.

And basketball had nothing to do with it! :)

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Breaking news: basketball player is tall. More at 11.

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Thanks for noting the wide variations in height. This context is so essential, and so often missing.

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Good!

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