[ColoradoTree]

FWIW, a different non-California state school (Colorado State from just up the road) chose to play SJSU. CSU won in a sweep: 25-18, 25-20, 25-20.

The outcome of the matches is irrelevant to the issues involved.

I'm not so sure it is. These issues aren't easy, but some of these situations strike me as implicating competitive fairness issues, while others just don't seem like they're as big of a deal. Lia Thomas certainly wasn't a safety issue, but on the more extreme end of a competitive fairness issue, and while I sympathized with all concerned in that situation, it didn't feel fundamentally fair to have Thomas--who had only recently transitioned and who was dominating competition and setting records--competing against cisgender women. 

But from what I've been able to gather, this isn't the same situation. SJSU isn't going to win a national title. Their 4-3 conference Mountain West record is aided by three of those Ws being forfeits that almost certainly would've been losses otherwise. This player isn't going to the Olympics or anything. She started playing women's college volleyball four years ago and no one has said boo before. She played girls' high school and club volleyball all through high school and apparently no one said boo then either. She appears to have transitioned a long time ago. "Born male" is only one piece of the puzzle. When the transition occurred also matters. The degree of dominance of the individual player matters. And yeah, the physical profile of the individual player matters. Here, she's a tall, skinny woman who looks like a tall, skinny woman--the media reports seem to float the idea of some hulking behemoth who's out here injuring competitors left and right, but this ain't that. 

I agree that player safety is important. But why is player safety a paramount concern this year for the University of Wyoming when it beat SJSU 3-0 and 3-1 last year with this player on SJSU's roster? Same question for Utah State, which beat SJSU 3-0 twice last year. Same question for Boise State, which beat SJSU 3-0 twice last year. The results of past matchups are indicative of the veracity of the stated justification for these cancellations. It seems demonstrably true that it was safe for these teams to play SJSU with this player last year. She didn't put on 50 pounds of muscle in the offseason. The only thing that appears to have changed is that now those teams know that she was born male. And that makes me question how much players' legitimate concerns for their own safety--or whether there is a reasonably objective safety issue--is really driving this particular discussion. 

Again, player safety is fundamental. And players who feel unsafe need to be heard and respected. But precisely because issues about trans women competing against cis women are so complex and fraught, I try to take these situations on a case by case basis. And my instinct when I heard about this in the first place was that it was just not that big of a deal. And everything I've learned since has only reinforced that.

[ColoradoTree]

FWIW, a different non-California state school (Colorado State from just up the road) chose to play SJSU. CSU won in a sweep: 25-18, 25-20, 25-20.

The outcome of the matches is irrelevant to the issues involved.

I'm not so sure it is. These issues aren't easy, but some of these situations strike me as implicating competitive fairness issues, while others just don't seem like they're as big of a deal. Lia Thomas certainly wasn't a safety issue, but on the more extreme end of a competitive fairness issue, and while I sympathized with all concerned in that situation, it didn't feel fundamentally fair to have Thomas--who had only recently transitioned and who was dominating competition and setting records--competing against cisgender women. 

But from what I've been able to gather, this isn't the same situation. SJSU isn't going to win a national title. Their 4-3 conference Mountain West record is aided by three of those Ws being forfeits that almost certainly would've been losses otherwise. This player isn't going to the Olympics or anything. She started playing women's college volleyball four years ago and no one has said boo before. She played girls' high school and club volleyball all through high school and apparently no one said boo then either. She appears to have transitioned a long time ago. "Born male" is only one piece of the puzzle. When the transition occurred also matters. The degree of dominance of the individual player matters. And yeah, the physical profile of the individual player matters. Here, she's a tall, skinny woman who looks like a tall, skinny woman--the media reports seem to float the idea of some hulking behemoth who's out here injuring competitors left and right, but this ain't that. 

I agree that player safety is important. But why is player safety a paramount concern this year for the University of Wyoming when it beat SJSU 3-0 and 3-1 last year with this player on SJSU's roster? Same question for Utah State, which beat SJSU 3-0 twice last year. Same question for Boise State, which beat SJSU 3-0 twice last year. The results of past matchups are indicative of the veracity of the stated justification for these cancellations. It seems demonstrably true that it was safe for these teams to play SJSU with this player last year. She didn't put on 50 pounds of muscle in the offseason. The only thing that appears to have changed is that now those teams know that she was born male. And that makes me question how much players' legitimate concerns for their own safety--or whether there is a reasonably objective safety issue--is really driving this particular discussion. 

Again, player safety is fundamental. And players who feel unsafe need to be heard and respected. But precisely because issues about trans women competing against cis women are so complex and fraught, I try to take these situations on a case by case basis. And my instinct when I heard about this in the first place was that it was just not that big of a deal. And everything I've learned since has only reinforced that.