Trans San Jose State U. volleyball player Blaire Fleming speaks out ...Middle East

(KRON) -- A San Jose State University volleyball player who was caught in the middle of a heated national debate over transgender athletes spoke out for the first time this week.

In an interview with the New York Times, Blaire Fleming described what it was like transitioning as a teenager, and talked about how SJSU's women's volleyball team was nearly ripped apart by the 2024 controversy.

When Fleming arrived at SJSU, playing on a girl's or women's sports team was nothing new for her. According to the New York Times, Fleming learned about transgender identity when she was in 8th grade. She said, "It was a lightbulb moment. I felt this huge relief and a weight off my shoulders. It made so much sense."

The Times wrote, "At age 14, with the support of her mother and her stepfather, she worked with a therapist and a doctor and started to socially and medically transition. She joined her public high school’s girls’ team. She said that none of the coaches or other players, all of whom knew that Fleming was transgender, objected."

On the volleyball court last season, Fleming thrived as San Jose State University's 6'1" starting outside hitter.

Off the court, the Spartan's team captain joined a lawsuit with former college athlete Riley Gaines demanding that NCAA officials remove Fleming from the team.

Team captain Brooke Slusser claimed her Title IX rights were violated by officials who allowed a "biological male" to play on a women’s volleyball. Several teams chose to forfeit their games against the Spartans after news of the transgender player made headlines.

The New York Times wrote, "The season took a toll on all of San Jose State’s players and coaches, but Fleming told me it was almost unbearable for her. After Slusser joined Gaines’s lawsuit, Fleming found herself being frozen out by other team members."

Fleming told the Times that she "felt suicidal," and it was, "the darkest time in my life."

The Spartans' last two games of the 2024 season were held during the November Mountain West Tournament. Boise State chose to forfeit their game to SJSU before Colorado State defeated the Spartans 3-1. SJSU ended its the season with a 14-7 overall record.

Three months later, Gaines stood by President Donald Trump as he signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams. The order stated that educational institutions and athletic associations may not ignore "fundamental biological truths between the two sexes."  The NCAA responded by banning all trans athletes.

The New York Times wrote, "Even before the N.C.A.A. rescinded its transgender-inclusion policy in the wake of Trump’s 'Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports' executive order, the era of trans women participating in Division I sports had most likely come to an end. What happened at San Jose State all but guaranteed that."

Fleming and Slusser are both in their senior year of college. Currently, neither player is on campus in San Jose.

Slusser told the Times that she is completing her final SJSU courses online from her home in Texas. She told FOX News, "I felt like people were just like staring at me, I felt like I had to watch my back whenever I was on campus."

Fleming returned to her home in Virginia and is finishing up her degree in public relations through SJSU's online classes, the Times reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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