Trans college volleyball player at center of controversy...

Jessica_Rose · April 22, 2025, 11:22:21 AM

Trans college volleyball player at center of controversy calls season 'darkest time of my life'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/trans-college-volleyball-player-at-center-of-controversy-calls-season-darkest-time-of-my-life/ar-AA1DoExT?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=174c3ef3661642e7b6c0d98da4c9c9af&ei=97

Story by Karleigh Webb (22 April 2025)

In a feature by Jason Zengerle in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Blaire Fleming, SJSU's outside hitter and a transgender woman student-athlete, discussed her past and her trying senior season in 2024.

Fleming said her being trans wasn't an issue, until someone made it one. She disclosed her gender identity to teammates individually in her first season at San Jose State, where she transferred to after a year at Coastal Carolina in 2022.

"They [teammates] said that they didn't expect me to talk about it if I didn't want to, but they had wanted to let me know that I was safe." Fleming stated. "Life seemed totally normal. I didn't feel like I needed to address it. People knew, but nothing really changed."

Fleming's first season at San Jose State was without incident, but 2023 and 2024 were different stories.

The article discussed rumors that circulated about Fleming and how her roommate and one-time friend Brooke Slusser heard about them... Such rumors were seen to be the result of an article on Fleming that anti-trans media outlet Reduxx published in April 2024, which outed her.

Reportedly, most of team kept a distance from Fleming through the 2024 season as the attention and derision increased. She said that the season was "the darkest time of my life."

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Trans college volleyball player at center of controversy...

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