The University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team will forfeit its game with San José State this weekend amid criticism over the rival team’s transgender player.
The Cowgirls are the third in a group of teams to forfeit games to the currently undefeated California squad, following similar actions from Boise State and Southern Utah universities. The San José State player Blaire Fleming’s transgender status was publicized in April, and afterward another team member joined a suit over NCAA rules allowing trans athletes under certain circumstances.
UW had originally decided to go forward with the game following talks between the athletic department, coaching staff and the team, according to Cowboy State Daily.
As of Tuesday afternoon, UW changed its mind.
“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San José State University in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, Oct. 5,” Nick Seeman, UW’s Assistant Athletic Director said in a statement. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming. The Cowgirls will host Fresno State on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. in the UniWyo Sports Complex.”
The response
Following the decision, Wyoming Equality released a statement calling the forfeiture “yet another troubling instance of politics overshadowing fair competition in collegiate sports.”
“Athletics should be about fostering teamwork, growth, and healthy competition — not about discrimination and exclusion,” spokesperson Santi Murillo said in a press release. “We believe every athlete, including transgender athletes, deserves the opportunity to compete and play the sports they love. This is personal to me, as the first transgender athlete at UW I experienced the best of Wyoming, a focus on playing sports, not politics. Taking away opportunities to compete hurts all athletes.”
Wyoming Equality also called for a focus on “consistently applied standards that create fairness and opportunity” in sports.
Gov. Mark Gordon backed the decision to forfeit the game, saying on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter: “I am in full support of the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State. It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics.”
This echoes support the Boise State team garnered from the Idaho governor after it decided to cancel its match.
Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams (R-Cody) also supported the decision. She is the new chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which previously called for the game to be canceled.
“Thank you, UW for making the right decision and for protecting womens sports,” she said on X.
Under pressure
The decision came as state lawmakers circulated a letter pressuring UW to cancel the game. It was addressed to UW President Ed Seidel and Athletic Director Tom Burman.
“The Legislature has been very clear that the University of Wyoming, being a publicly funded land grant institution, should not participate in the extremist agenda of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or propagate the lie that biological sex can be changed,” the letter, circulated by Sen. Cheri Steinmetz (R-Lingle), states. “We all know it cannot.”
That was an apparent reference to the Legislature voting to cut UW’s block grant by the amount it took to fund the university’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Lawmakers also voted to ban the use of state funds for anything to do with DEI, though Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed part of that budget footnote.
In response, UW has eliminated its DEI office, though it retained all staff and aimed to keep programming situated under that entity. Most of those programs didn’t match what lawmakers stated they wanted to root out, UW Board of Trustees members said.
The DEI office housed several programs, including the federally required compliance offices for the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. That last federal law prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools receiving federal funding and is often cited in arguments against allowing trans women to participate in women’s sports.
The lawmakers’ letter goes on to state: “The Wyoming Citizens were very clear in the last election cycle in which they categorically rejected incumbents and candidates who supported policies promoting or failing to stop the ‘woke’ agenda.”
During this year’s primary election, members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus gained ground against the more traditional Republicans, reflecting what many residents see as a need for more conservative policies in Wyoming. This followed 2022’s primary election when the Freedom Caucus also gained members.
Wyoming legislators passed a law last year that banned trans girls from participating in middle and high school girls’ sports. This year, lawmakers also banned most forms of gender-affirming care for minors, including surgeries and hormone treatments.
The Biden Administration extended Title IX protections in May to ban discrimination based on gender identity, which includes someone’s transgender status. That has been challenged and enforcement has been blocked via a lawsuit headed by 15 Republican-led states, which does not include Wyoming.
Brooke Slusser, another member of the San José State volleyball team, has also joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, which claims its policies allowing trans athletes violate Title IX. The suit was originally filed by swimmer and activist Riley Gaines, who spoke at UW’s campus and fought against a trans woman being allowed into a UW sorority. Judges at the district and circuit court levels both dismissed a lawsuit over that separate issue.
Much respected decision! I live in CA and somehow this minority (transgender) have wormed their way into CA law. Thank you for taking a stance in WY where CA doesn’t rule!
Interesting that CSU honored their commitment to playing their match against SJSU.
Oh, and they won.
Never thought I’d say this, but go Rams. Confidence, class, dignity and respect personified.
I think the UW did the correct thing. And women should’nt have to compete with men. This is a medical issue and should be dealt like one. A Mental Illness Medical Issue. What else are they going to everyone to accept as normal that is obviously not normal. They can have their surgery or whatever they want. But forcing others to accept it is just wrong and not allowing the students to participate in sports because a man ain’t allowed too with them is wrong. Anatomy is Anatomy plain and simple. And for the Donald Trump comment that he’d be their protector , a liar and draft dodger protecting who. He’ll say what he thinks will make him a buck. He protects himself and thats it.
The athletic department, coaches, and players decided to participate. The Wyoming Freedom Caucus applied threats that demonstrate freedom in Wyoming is only on their terms. Their power plays show that they do not govern for the good of all, but only their followers. What a lesson for the students at UW.
What a bunch of wimps. The Cowgirls deserve better. Steinmetz can’t manage to get Lingle’s water system fixed but she has time for this nonsense.
Why not just allow all genders to play volleyball together co-ed? Otherwise, at least attempt to explain why biological males with testosterone and/or biological females with testosterone may result in some sort of advantage in sports, which is why “doping” is not permitted, generally. If humans are genetically changing, due to chemicals in foods & water, injected genetic modification, or for whatever reason, the humane thing to do is understand the matter clearly without stigmatizing those affected by such changes for whatever reason. This is a case of the tail wagging the dog. The so-called “woke agenda” is a mask for actual genetic changes happening from generation to generation for actual reasons. That the psychology of people is affected by abuse and trauma is real also, and not due necessarily to a political agenda. Wyoming is a great state. Perhaps it might pull back the curtain to reveal the truth behind the transgender phenomenon, rather than scapegoat victims for political gain.
Utah State University also will forfeit its game against San Jose State later this month. I applaud this decision, Title VX is to protect women in “THEIR” Sport.
Mediocre male athletes pretending to be women so they can play on college teams are cheaters.
A mailbox is smart enough to know that nobody would go through what it takes to change genders, just to do better at sports.
To quote a previous posted comment, “once again politicians have swooped in to save women.” As Donald Trump says of women, “I will be your protector.”
This team does not need protecting. They are Wyoming women who welcome the challenge of playing San Jose State, and will win in so many ways other than the score board. This is about a sport where women step up (as they always have) to take on the challenge. The only protecting these women need is to be protected against being political pawns and allow them to play the sport they love.
Harkens back to the good old days when teams wouldn’t play if the other team included Black players. How nice! Making Wyoming great again.
Why don’t these transgender dudes play men’s sports? If they aren’t good enough, then that’s the way it goes. They shouldn’t be allowed to play women’s sports because…they are not women!
I applaud the University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team for not participating in a match that has a guy playing on the other team.
Also nice to see UW Hall of Famer Mary Shea weighing in on this issue. She was an incredible player.
I just toured the National Archives in DC and we have fighting this same fight for decades. The only thing that has changed is the group of people being discriminated against. The lame reasons for not respecting others are the same. The idiotic clowns who somehow think they have the right to take away human rights because they don’t like who someone else is are the problem and always have been.
How about you start looking at the problem in the mirror and deal with that.
Treating others with kindness and understanding will always make you a better person so why do you continue to choose to be lesser everyday? Are you still thinking that you have right to force your beliefs on others?
Do you really want to be remembered for the hatred bile you are embracing or do you want to get out of that cesspool….the choice is yours.
Yes! Pick your favorite names and labels! Call me and others hateful, bigoted, or anything you want. It still does not change basic facts of human biology (that there are physical differences between men and women) that have been understood since the earliest days of humanity.
I’m not going to change the definition of what a female is because of how a group of people emotionally or psychologically feel this decade. A man can feel like a woman, dress like a woman, want to be a woman, but until his DNA starts spontaneously changing without human intervention, he will never be a woman. I owe it to my children and future generations to stand by what has been true for thousands and thousands of years.
Amen!! It would be nice if our generation had some rights too. Our future generations still need us to guide them and this is definitely one of those times. Well said sir!
Mr Leavitt, a wonderful comment….thank you
So answer me a question. After researching the new NCAA rules concerning trans participation in women’s sports, why is a trans female allowed to have 10 nmol /L testosterone while biological women are limited to 5 nmol/L?
I guess I need to establish an extra level of credibility by saying, “As a UW alum… As a born and lifelong Wyoming resident… As a biological woman…” All of which things, I am. Not that it should matter, because truth is observable by anyone outside of my aforementioned background or so-called “social hierarchy points.” Truth is truth.
Individuals born as male are biologically male. Individuals born as female are biologically female. From even the earliest days of development in the womb, there are major hormonal and chemical differences that lead to even greater physical differences with each passing day. Xx does not equal Xy. Heaven forbid I become one of those perverse and backwards “science deniers!”
I understand the pride and confidence of the UW volleyball team in wanting to dominate San Diego, and I am proud of them. But I am even more proud that the school administration would end up choosing to stand against the political and social pressure to ignore the very real agenda being enacted to erase the very definition, and thereby the natural rights of biological women. It is uncomfortable for both the team and the administration to take a stand for the truth, but I am proud of them for ultimately doing it.
Further, if the University of Wyoming players and San Diego players wanted to play co-sex volleyball, I’d support it. But, do it with open recognition of what it is and don’t insist we buy into the lie that it is “only women” playing together.
To the women’s volleyball team in Laramie, I want you to know that every single moment you stand by the universal truth that biological women are the only true women, you are the true hero to both me, my daughter, and all future women yet to be born. In the 20th Century, your mothers had to fight for the right to vote, to retain their children after divorce, to be lent money without a husband. In the 21st Century, our fight has changed. Our fight is now for the recognition of what we naturally are: women. We separate and equally respectable to men.
My sisters, we cannot let social pressure from people who uphold Post-modernist ideas as the sole source of truth–even to a degree I would describe as religious–to twist and contort for me and you the basic truth that I was and always will be a woman. It is written into my DNA. It is in our DNA! I want anyone who pushes this new agenda to know that they will never have my permission to ever take that that knowledge away from me. I know what a woman is. I exist. Women are half the human population of the world. Our biological differences deserve to be acknowledged, respected, and honored in all arenas in which we compete–including the volleyball court.
Freedom caucus and friends:
What’s the matter? Political agenda based on fear and ignorance?
I have a tip for you.
So called “ wokeness” is just people.
People asking and expecting from you the same dignity and respect you expect from them.
See how easy that is?
Learn it!
Boo to UW again. And they wonder why their enrollment numbers are down. They need to wake up and join this century. I used to feel so proud sending my 2 children there. Not anymore: Closing DEI, guns on campus, diminishing support for the marginalized. The University should be a safe haven for learning and ALL kinds of thinking and accepting of diverse people because they are who we learn from. Wyoming politics needs to support that and keep their nose out. And yes, fund this diversity. We are all people.
Yes. UW’s enrollment decline and the extreme “freedom” caucus’ mandates are probably related. Once again, UW is being blackmailed into bowing to the wishes of narrow minded extremists who push an agenda of fear and exclusion based on their mistaken theology. The team and their coaches should have been respected enough to make this decision, not politicians.
you said it for me. thank you.
The enrollment was down “before” the election. Where are you coming from?
The Wyoming women’s team wanted to play, I assume because they were confident of their ability to defeat the other team. But once again politicians swooped in to save women. It’s as if they don’t trust women to make decisions about our own bodies. I suspect what the politicians really are afraid of is women’s strength.
Let’s do a brief Thought Experiment based on role reversal. First, change the sport to conference Football. Now, let’s say the team the UW Cowboys were lining up across the pigskin from had a transgender player. Say a 180 lb. receiver that was born a woman but fully transitioned to male , and made the team roster with his/her/their college’s acceptance, and had played elsewhere already.
When I run this experiment I see Wyoming Cowboys fully engaged and trying their best to go full contact and drive that WR into the turf , with prejudice.
—-
We have to quit being so ‘cowboy condescending’ around here. No wonder the rest of the nation thinks Wyoming is so rubythroated regressive. Maybe because it is ???
Expanding on your thought experiment Dewey:
Should then the six foot eleven 325 lb house trailer sized “student athlete” who may be struggling to compete with his/her/their peers in the classroom also be denied the sometimes heroic measures of “assistance” UW is able to muster up to “enhance” his/her/their ability to maintain his/her/their academic eligibility when that coveted bowl invitation with a Cowboy logo on it is sitting on the table. Or should UW forfeit the game…
As a proud U of Wyo VB alum, I am extremely proud of the decision made by the university and the VB program. It’s sad to say that the decision was “courageous” when, in actuality, it was and is the right thing to do. No more taking scholarships and opportunities away from female athletes.
Kudos for the university of Wyoming. The woke agenda is a travesty for Americans.
Well said Larry. Nothing I could add to this. You nailed it.
Larry & Nancy: Merriam-Webster defines “woke” as: aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues especially of racial and social injustice. Being informed and educated in things happening in society is not a bad thing, unless you want to stay in the dark ages. Knowledge is power, power to make logical and sensible decisions based on facts, not innuendos.
Good for UW athletics and shame on SJSU for allowing a male to take up a spot on the women’s team! Where is the equity in that for true female athletes? This stuff is getting out of hand. How is there even a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment for a trans “female” when competing against biological females. I just don’t get it. This world is strange as hell right now.
This was like Christmas for the Freedom Caucus and will be their proudest moment. Finally, a manufactured, existential crisis straight out of a Fox News fever dream, actually came to be, and they triumphed. Some states are flooded from a hurricane or facing the consequences of the Colorado River running dry; sure there’s the Middle East and Ukraine…but here, the real crisis was averted.
I wish those in the legislature would quit assuming they speak for “all of Wyoming” citizens, because they don’t. Being a female and former high school athlete in Wyoming, I have mixed feelings on transgender athletes competing in female sports, and a lot goes back to when they transition as far as not having an advantage over female athletes. I also DO NOT believe anyone “chooses” to be a transgender just to compete in women’s sports. There is far to much stigma and hate towards anyone who is transgender to make that a good trade off. I think UW did the right thing initially by leaving it up to the team. And it’s obviously not the supposed “liberal agenda” of UW that matters, but rather the Freedom Caucus pushing it’s agenda that is taking over the state that has all the power.
This is not about protecting women in sports–the women in sports most impacted by this game are the players on UW’s volleyball team who made the decision to play it. If you want to protect women in sports, don’t undermine their decisions and take away their right to play. I’m disappointed that UW leadership is once again siding with discrimination, fear, and hate as it did when it decided to eliminate the university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program. Valuing all people for who they are isn’t extremist. It’s being a decent human being.
Some how the idea that an athlete playing a transport who most likely transgendered with the help of female hormones will help her team win because “she”once identified or was identified as male seems the backward view that prevailed in this situation. I’m glad Wyoming had to forfeit the game .
I guess everyone at UW fears the Freedom Caucus. Tom Burman is the Athletic Director and he should make the call, not some far-right arbiter of social mores (Cheri Steinmetz to be precise) who inserts herself where she is not qualified. The University and its Athletics Department are now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Freedom Caucus. I am dismayed by the complete lack of pushback from Key University people, with the exception of Ed Seidel who was hired by the Board of Trustees for the very fact he is generally spineless. Keep this up and the University won’t need that lovely new dorm, especially once the powers that be decide students and staff can carry guns on campus. The Freedom Caucus is destroying the University with literally NO opposition. Wyoming voters need to send Cheri Steinmetz back to Lingle at the earliest possible opportunity where she can be the postmistress and monitor everyone’s mail.
I agree with the forfeiting although it shouldn’t have to come to this. Men are men and women are women, if you identify as someone or something different, then it is gender dysphoria. And before you say I’m a homophonic, know that I have family and friends who are gay and lesbian. Leave women to play women’s sports. Period!
The players wanted to play, but the politicians decided they couldn’t. UNdemocracy. Steinmetz made it pretty clear in her letter that it has nothing to do with fairness in sports, and everything to do with the freedom-caucus repressing the rights of trans-people. No Ms Steinmetz, we don’t “all know” that there is no such thing as gender, just biological sex, any more than we all know that your great-uncles “fought against the scourge of communism in WWII” as you claimed in your July3 column in Cowboy State Daily. Your great-uncles fought against the same kind of persecution and dehumanization you yourself are committing. You are dancing on their graves. Next you will calling for a monument to the heroes who protected Wyoming from the woke agenda of Matthew Shepard.
I just wish the University and this state could manage not to do something incredibly stupid for a full quarter. It’s only three months. We need to stop the bleeding and it’s not that hard. Between snow mobiles running over wolves-legally, guns everywhere, and the legislature making non-stop terrible decisions…..
Just move to Colorado or California bud.
Well, I’m not planning on moving to either of those states, but your reply does answer my question.
If the transgender woman on the San Jose volleyball team has male genitals then they should play on the men’s volleyball team. I totally agree with the university’s decision to forfeit the game. There need to be an end to this totally WOKE nonsense!
How would we know? The article doesn’t specify. Should we appoint someone to look up each volleyball player’s skirt before the game?
The Black 14, Mathew Shepard, the history of shameless behavior that Wyoming is well known for continues.
As a second generation alum of UW and a Wyo resident born and raised, I’m deeply ashamed and incredibly tired of the continued attacks on LGBTQ identities by the Wyoming Legislature and the University of Wyoming. These decisions send a clear message that minority identities aren’t worthy of institutional support. Also forfeiture of a game because lawmakers lobby you to fear, disrespect, or hate your opponents does not align with the cowboy code of ethics. These are not Wyoming values, they are imported biases from a national platform that has poisoned the Wyoming Legislature and everything it touches. Shame on you.
And if she doesn’t, then what? Because it seems pretty obvious that she doesn’t because you could not hide such a thing, in those tiny-shorts, and certainly not running and jumping around playing volleyball, not to mention the locker-room, nor sharing a hotel-room. So presume she doesn’t, and she is not even the best player on her own team, let alone dominating the sport. You still want to ban her, or boycott her games? Or if you are on the UW-team, do you just want to play every game you can play during your college career? It is not enough that the Clown Caucus is playing political-volleyball with trans-people, now they are doing it to every female volleyball-player in the conference, even in the entire sport. There is no “woke-agenda” there is only the 14th-Amendment.
Mr. Jones. Men or boys flat out have advantage over women girls. You and your attitude will get girls/women hurt. You sir are one that needs to change attitude and get some common sense. Excellent choice Wyoming team. Only 2 genders. Male/Female. DNA doesn’t lie.
Not exactly friend.
I hope you are lobbying for your local Colorado colleges to become as bigoted and ignorant as you claim to be in your posts.
Is your angry shtick only reserved for out of state news sites?