Who is Blaire Fleming? What to know about trans volleyball player breaking records in women's sports
Trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming has been in the headlines once again this week after Boise State forfeited their third game of the season against San Jose State.
Multiple opponents have refused to play against San Jose State's women's volleyball team in 2024 amid concerns over Fleming, who is on the Spartans' roster despite being a biological male.
And after already forfeiting two games against them this season, Boise State did so again when matched with SJSU in the semifinals of the Big West tournament.
After withdrawing, the school insisted their players 'should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.'
So who is Blaire Fleming? And why are they causing so much controversy in women's sport?
DailyMail.com is on hand with everything you need to know about the player.
Trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming has been in the headlines once again this week
Multiple opponents have refused to play against Fleming and San Jose State this season
Who is Blaire Fleming?
Fleming was born in 2002 at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, but grew up over 1,000 miles east in Aldie, Virginia.
The 6ft 1in player first ventured into girls' volleyball at John Champe High School, where an advantage in height and spiking ability helped them become a key member of head coach Jasmine Jackson's team.
In their senior year in 2019, Fleming became the focal point of the best volleyball team in John Champe High School history with a historic 19-win season, before being named first-team all-district.
Blaire started off in college with Coastal Carolina during the COVID-affected 2020 season before eventually transferring to San Jose State in 2022.
What records have they broken?
During her successful high-school career with John Champe, Fleming set the school's single-season record for kills in a season with 266, as well as the single-game record for kills with 30 against Battlefield High School in September of that year.
Fleming is also the leader in kills for a San Jose State team that will compete in the Mountain West tournament final Saturday against Colorado State.
Fleming was born in 2002 at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, but grew up in Virginia
The 6ft 1in player first ventured into girls' volleyball at John Champe High School
Blaire started off in college with Coastal Carolina before transferring to San Jose State in 2022
For SJSU, the player has recorded over 250 kills this season, which is a milestone mark in the sport.
It is the second time the outside hitter has eclipsed that total, having also done so in her first season with the Spartans in 2022.
How have other teams and players reacted?
San Jose State earned seven victories in the regular season via forfeit after multiple opponents refused to play against them with Fleming in their ranks.
Utah State, Southern Utah and Nevada all forfeited games against the Spartans, while Wyoming refused to play them on two separate occasions. Boise State has now done so three times after forfeiting this week's semifinal.
As well as that, a host of women's college volleyball players - including teammates of Fleming's - and coaches recently filed a lawsuit which called for the player to be declared ineligible for the Mountain West Conference tournament, SJSU's wins to be vacated and the team to be deemed ineligible for the conference tournament.
According to the filing, Spartans captain Brooke Slusser, who previously backed Nevada's women's volleyball players for refusing to compete against SJSU, demanded that officials remove teammate Fleming from the roster ahead of their conference championship game in Las Vegas this month.
San Jose State earned seven wins in the regular season via forfeit amid concerns over Fleming
Slusser along with 10 other current or former Mountain West players, plus suspended SJSU associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, claim the university and conference officials violated their Title IX rights by allowing Fleming to play for the women's team.
However, last week a federal judge ruled that Fleming can continue to play for the Spartans despite the uproar surrounding their inclusion.
The NCAA is also facing a class-action lawsuit from more than a dozen female athletes, who accuse the organization of knowingly violating a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination.
How has the world reacted?
Donald Trump called out Fleming during a town hall event on Fox News last month, before he went on to trounce Kamala Harris in the presidential election and secure a return to the White House.
Trump spoke out on a viral clip which appeared to show Fleming spiking a ball into the face of a rival player, although it later became apparent that it hit them on the shoulder.
'I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,' Trump said. 'But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently, I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men. But you don’t have to do the volleyball.
'We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can’t have it.'
Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer who advocates against the inclusion of trans women in women's sports, was left fuming after a federal judge ruled that Fleming can still play volleyball for San Jose State's women's team.
Donald Trump called out Fleming during a town hall event on Fox News last month
Former college swimmer Riley Gaines has also spoken out against the volleyball player
'A federal judge just ruled in favor of a male athlete who has been injuring defenseless women in volleyball for years,' Gaines posted on X. 'It's time to remove those activist judges who refuse to uphold the law as it was intended.'
Many people posted replies to Gaines' tweet - agreeing with her stance.
However, transgender swimmer and former NCAA champion Lia Thomas - whopreviously competed against Gaines - is backing Fleming amid a wave of attacks similar to what she faced in 2021 and 2022.
Thomas was banned from competing in elite women's races ahead of the Olympics by The Court of Arbitration for Sport panel, which ruled that she was ineligible to challenge World Aquatics policy on trans athletes. She won a national title as a woman in the 500 free while tying for fifth in the 200 free at the 2022 NCAA Finals with Gaines.
'It can be just extremely invasive and dehumanizing,' Thomas told ESPN. 'And it's in a way, I think, very few people ever experience. To have my own personal identity and personhood turned into a culture war talking point just totally takes all my humanity away. It can be very difficult to keep trying to persevere through that.'
