EDITORIAL: Culture wars played out on the volleyball court

Volleyball might seem an unusual vehicle in which to fight the raging culture wars, but these are unusual times. Thus, UNLV and UNR have found themselves in the national news of late.

At issue is a women’s volleyball player on San Jose State who is reportedly a biological male. The story gained traction last month when San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser filed a federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s policy of allowing transgender women to compete athletically against biological women.

Ms. Slusser had roomed with her transgender teammate but says the school never told her the details, which she learned only after the player in question, Blaire Fleming, was the subject of a story on a conservative website.

In late September, Boise State opted to forfeit its volleyball match with San Jose State. Wyoming and Utah State followed suit. UNR players indicated last week that they, too, would not take the court for their Saturday match against the Spartans. School officials insisted the event would take place. But UNR captain Sia Liilii remains steadfast.

“The vast majority of our team decided this is something we wanted to take a stand on,” Ms. Liilii told Yahoo Sports. “We didn’t want to play against a male player.”

Meanwhile, UNLV players have reportedly voted unanimously to go ahead with their Nov. 7 match against San Jose State.

Outside observers should respect the positions of the athletes on both UNR and UNLV. It’s unfortunate that these young women have been caught in the middle of something they wanted no part of. But is it really beyond the pale today to suggest that allowing biological men to compete as females on the playing field is not a good idea?

NCAA rules leave eligibility requirements up to each sport’s governing body. The Biden administration has gone further, arbitrarily rewriting federal law to weaken Title IX protections for women in an effort to promote transgender participation in college athletics.

It’s worth debating whether this is in the best interests of female athletes, but those who challenge the trans orthodoxy are typically shouted down and labeled by the left as oppressive hateful bigots, even though polls show that upward of 70 percent of Americans oppose allowing those who were born with male genitalia to take part in athletic contests as women.

All Americans, regardless of their gender or sexual identity, deserve basic constitutional protections and the freedom to make their own choices about their personal lives. Live and let live. But to ignore the inherent physical advantages that those who were born male have over their female counterparts on the athletic field makes a mockery of reality and fairness while robbing women of opportunity. That’s not bigotry. It’s just common sense.