Thea Lilly, the University of Nevada, Reno's volleyball captain, on Sunday revealed details of the battle she and her teammates had with the school over whether to play on the team with a transgender player.
Speaking at the Stand With Women forum on fairness in women's sports in Philadelphia, Lily said school officials told her and her teammates that the trans players she was going to play against were due to drug therapy. She claimed that she was told that she was at a disadvantage in women's sports. I was taken into transition.
“My teammates and I have been dragged into countless meetings and we're not well educated, we don't know what the science behind it is, this person is actually against us women. They were told that they were at a disadvantage because of this.
A lawsuit filed by San Jose State player Brooke Slusser with the NCAA alleges that Nevada's would-be opponent spiked the ball at nearly 130 mph, jeopardizing the physical safety of his teammates.
A 2021 scientific review found that trans women's muscle mass remains high after transitioning.
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that transgender women also had stronger grip strength after their gender transition.
ESPN previously explored the subject of transgender athletes playing in women's sports in its “Sports Science” segment. The episode features several experts, including physiologist Tommy Lundberg, who says that even when puberty blockers are used, men's bodies “arguably” maintain a physical advantage over women. Then he concluded.
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Nevada Wolf Pack female volleyball players with Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. (Sam Brown Campaign)
Meanwhile, Lilly encouraged other female athletes to speak out against having to compete against transgender athletes.
“I'm here today to say to all the women who are forced to compete against biological men: You have a voice, so use it, be brave, be brave. “This is to tell them not to be afraid of anything.”
Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard also attended the event and had a message for those who support transgender participation in women's sports.
“Why don't you believe Shea?” Gabbard asked. “Why don't you believe her teammates and the people who are afraid of a male volleyball player getting hit in the face with all his might?”
Lily previously claimed that during a press conference at the university regarding her team's recent loss to San Jose State University, she and her teammates were told that they “didn't understand the science” and would “reconsider their position.” Ta.
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Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown (left) poses with Nevada's Thea Lilly (center right) and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. (Sam Brown Campaign)
“We were fired because we feared for our safety,” Lillie said, crying. “We met with school officials and gave them the team's new statement, but they didn't listen. They said we weren't educated enough and didn't understand the science. We were told to reconsider our position. ”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the state of Nevada regarding these allegations.
In an earlier statement provided to Fox News Digital, Nevada acknowledged that the players requested to withdraw from the game but that they did not have the authority to do so.
“A majority of the Wolfpack women's volleyball team issued a statement to the university stating that they have decided to forfeit their scheduled game against San Jose State University. Although players do not have the authority to withdraw from a game, this “Decisions can only be officially announced by the university and our athletics department,” the statement said.
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Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown speaks to Thea Lilly. (Sam Brown Campaign)
At Saturday's press conference, Lilly also criticized the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA, saying both institutions are “letting us down.”
So Meisin Navarro, a sophomore at the University of Nevada, claimed that her teammates were told to “shut up” about the controversy during a press conference.
“Standing up for women shouldn't be this hard, but some of us have been told to be silent, so we're using this opportunity to stand up as a team,” Navarro said. he said.
Nevada had previously said it could not forfeit the match because it would be a violation of state law. Article 1, Section 24 of the Nevada Constitution states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not apply to persons on account of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexual orientation.'' shall not be denied or abridged by any state or political jurisdiction thereof.” Facial expression, age, disability, ancestry, nationality. ” The constitution was amended in 2022, when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protected categories.
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On Friday, the university announced it would withdraw from the competition, saying it did not have enough athletes to compete. In a statement to Fox News Digital, the show insisted that forfeitures on such grounds do not violate state law.
“The University of Nevada, Reno's decision not to play the Mountain West Conference game scheduled for Saturday, October 26th at San Jose State University is based on a lack of sufficient athletes to compete. It is not based on gender identity or expression. It does not violate the “Nevada Constitution,'' the statement said.
Nevada became the fifth team to forfeit its game against San Jose State, joining Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming and Utah State. The cancellation comes after a San Jose State player sued the NCAA for sharing a locker room and bedroom with a transgender teammate who remains on the team without informing him that he was biologically male. This is due to being involved in a lawsuit.
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