VICTOR JOECKS: Left’s war on women’s sports comes to Las Vegas

If any Nevada Democrats oppose men competing in women’s sports, now is their chance to speak up.

The Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament begins Wednesday. Six teams will be playing at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion. The winner of Saturday’s championship will earn an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. This moment should be one of the highlights of these women’s careers.

But San Jose State University’s team includes a man, Blaire Fleming, who claims to now be a woman. Brooke Slusser, the setter on San Jose State, opposes Fleming playing on her team. She has said Fleming’s spikes are “scary.”

That’s not surprising. Men are bigger, faster and stronger than women. A mediocre male athlete can dominate when playing against women. This reality is why sex-segregated sports teams exist. In women’s volleyball, the net is 7 inches lower than in men’s volleyball. For the vast majority of human history, this was so all obvious that it didn’t need to be spelled out.

In protest, several teams forfeited their games against San Jose State. Among them was the courageous University of Nevada, Reno squad. Those “free” wins helped make San Jose State the No. 2 seed in the tournament. It has a first-round bye and is scheduled to play Friday against either No. 3 seed Utah State or No. 6 seed Boise State. Both of those teams previously forfeited matches against San Jose State.

This puts Utah State or Boise State in a brutal position. If their team plays San Jose State, they would be tacitly legitimizing a man playing on a women’s team. If they stand on principle and forfeit, they’ll lose their chance at a championship.

This is a scandal and an outrage.

“As a father of two daughters, I firmly believe in protecting the sanctity of women’s sports,” Gov. Joe Lombardo said in a statement when asked about this. He added, “Women should participate in women’s sports and men should participate in men’s sports.”

Exactly right.

Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony recently wrote a letter to Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. He urged her to “prevent biological males from competing against biological females in women’s sports.” To ignore the differences between men and women “is not only unjust but also places the safety and well-being of female athletes at risk.”

The public agrees with Lombardo and Anthony. A 2023 Gallup survey found 69 percent opposed men in women’s sports with just 26 percent approval. That was a 15-point swing toward sanity compared with its 2021 results.

But the left shows few signs of reversing course. University officials and Democrat-appointed judges continue to push transgender ideology. Democrat activists have relentlessly attacked Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton for saying he didn’t want his daughters competing against men in sports.

I asked Democrat Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office for comment on this. No response. Perhaps he’s too busy helping illegal immigrant criminals avoid deportation. Remember this contrast if or when Ford runs against Lombardo in 2026.

A team of women may soon give up their championship aspirations to defend women’s sports.

Shame on the many Democrats, like Ford, who refuse to champion their cause.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.