EXCLUSIVE: San Jose State University Women’s Volleyball Captain Brooke Slusser21 years old, admits that he has only been involved in politics for a few years. But for this year’s election, his priority was to vote a week early in his home state of Texas.

Slusser is currently involved in a lawsuit against the NCAA over its stance on gender ideology in women’s sports after she allegedly shared a volleyball court, locker room and room on overnight trips with a teammate without ever being told that person was a trans athlete. She alleges that her team made a deliberate effort to hide that player’s gender identity from her and her teammates.

And now he’s at the point where he believes a nationwide ban on trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports is “necessary.” Former President Trump has endorsed the idea of ​​banning transgender athletes from women’s sports as a key campaign issue in recent weeks, and Slusser expressed his support for the idea in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

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“I think it’s completely necessary,” Slusser said of Trump’s proposed ban. “I don’t think this should have been allowed to exist and be legal and allowed to happen. And I think a lot of people know that it’s not right and for some reason they still choose to support it, for whatever other reason. They have, and I think in the back of everyone’s head, you know it’s not right. I mean, if you have to hide something for as long as SJSU did, you should know it’s not right.”

Slusser also said she believes the issue of trans inclusion in women’s sports should even be a political issue. Still, he acknowledges that only one political party has taken consistent measures to oppose and prevent it.

“There’s more one side of a political party that agrees with what I’m doing compared to the other, but there are still a lot of people on both sides of the political parties that agree with this,” Slusser said. “Trump talks about how, if he were president, none of this would happen and he would just be banned. And those statements get him more involved in politics and more out in the open. So he’s involved in politics, but it has nothing to do with politics at the end of the day.

“One side is fighting and the other has decided not to.”

Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior at San Jose State University, plays outside hitter and right hitter on the women’s volleyball team. (San Jose State University)

Democrats who previously voted in favor of laws that would allow transgender inclusion in women’s sports have publicly denounced their support for the concept in the weeks leading up to Election Day. These Democrats include Texas Rep. Collin Allred, Texas Rep. Vicente González and Alaska Rep. Peltola. Meanwhile, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown recently defended himself when linked to the issue by stating that he was never in favor of allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports.

“In Ohio, this has already been banned,” Brown boasted in a campaign ad published in October.

Vice President Kamala Harris has not spoken at length about her stance on the issue since becoming the official Democratic nominee in July.

“For a Democrat, it’s up in the air. I don’t think anyone can guess what would happen with that. I think everyone can assume at this point that it wouldn’t change much,” Slusser said. “We could be much more confident that if Trump were elected, things would be handled the right way that we want.”

A native of Texas, Slusser began her college career at the University of Alabama in 2021 before transferring to San Jose State for the 2023 season. When she moved to California to play volleyball for the Spartans, it was the first time in her life and athletic career moving to a state that had laws to protect trans inclusion in women’s sports instead of restricting it, like in Texas and Alabama. .

The transfer to San Jose State put Slusser at the mercy of an administration heavily influenced by Democratic politics and a state that offers more protections for transgender people than most in the US.

In the 2020 election cycle, 94.38% of San Jose State University employee donations went to Democratic candidates in the federal election, while 5.62% of donations went to republican candidatesaccording to data from Open secrets. The university was also one of many to demand a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students and employees.

California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act classifies public schools as commercial establishments and provides “equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services” to “all persons…regardless of sex.”

In Slusser’s case, those accommodations for his transgender teammate ended up including a veil of secrecy over his birth sex. And Slusser’s experience under all of these conditions has resulted in an experience so traumatic that she insists she never would have moved to San Jose State if she could do it all over again. She believes that her transgender teammate, Blaire Fleming, has been favored and protected over her and the rest of her teammates, who are concerned about the situation.

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“I think anyone can see in my circle and in the gym that they are not here to support me. They are here to support Blaire, and they have decided that they will basically do anything to continue supporting Blaire and not be there for me and my needs” said Slusser. “I’ve simply decided that you can’t trust anyone here.”

Slusser says she “doesn’t even feel safe” playing for any of the current coaches on staff.

San Jose State recently suspended associate volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who filed a Title IX complaint against the school earlier this week alleging that San Jose State showed favoritism for Fleming at the expense of the women on the team. Slusser says Batie-Smoothe was the only coach in the program who supported her decision to join the lawsuit and advocate for the protection of female athletes.

“After we found out she had been released, a lot of the team broke down and got a little scared, and even one of my teammates said, ‘I don’t feel safe anymore,’ because there’s no one there.” now that we feel like we can go and talk about our concerns or our real feelings and we can talk freely in front of ourselves,” Slusser said.

Slusser says she doesn’t feel safe talking to anyone else involved in the program, not even head coach Todd Kress.

“You can’t really express how you feel without them just trying to cover it up or act like everything is okay. With Melissa, you could express how you felt, and she could comfort you and validate your feelings and at least make you feel better.” you feel heard compared to the other coaches,” Slusser said.

Kress previously said the tension created in the locker room by the current situation was “not a bad thing” despite the potential impact on the player’s mental health.

“Sometimes tension is not necessarily a bad thing, and I’m not saying there is. But you know, when you have tension or confrontations, I mean, I’m a person who believes that from confrontation, the good thing is tension. Things usually happen. We work out our differences and work it out,” Kress told reporters on Oct. 3.

But Slusser disagrees with the coach.

“I’d have to disagree with him on that, but it feels like you have to walk on eggshells having certain people in the locker room who obviously don’t agree with what’s going on,” Slusser said. “So little by little we are getting more and more angry about the situation without knowing what to do.”

San Jose State University provided a statement exclusively to Fox News Digital in response to Slusser’s allegations.

“The safety and well-being of our student-athletes and employees is our top priority. The university has taken and will continue to take multiple measures to provide safety, support and resources to all team members as the program navigates this difficult time.” the statement said.

“San Jose State takes all reports and complaints seriously, but we cannot provide any information about confidential complaints and reports out of respect for the parties involved and due to federal and state privacy laws.”

San Jose State has previously defended that the program’s roster complies with NCAA rules.

“All of our athletes comply with the policies of the NCAA and the Mountain West Conference and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. We will continue to take steps to prioritize the health and safety of our students as they pursue the opportunities they have earned to compete. “. read a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital.

The university also previously declined to publicly comment on or acknowledge Fleming’s gender assigned at birth.

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Slusser says he hasn’t spoken to Fleming at all since joining the lawsuit. Reflecting on interactions with Fleming before learning the player’s natural birth gender, Slusser admits that he regrets “opening up” to the trans player in a way he wouldn’t have if he had known Fleming was a biological male.

Now, looking ahead, Slusser has no plans to return to volleyball after this season. She also says the outcome of the current election will affect the fate of whether she will allow her potential future daughter to play organized girls’ sports.

“If I knew there was a man playing where my daughter was supposed to be playing, or playing against my daughter, my daughter would not be involved in that situation. I would never allow that to happen to my daughter, just knowing that I’ve been through that, knowing that it is not right, fair or safe,” Slusser said when asked about the consequences of a possible Harris victory.

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