Democrat Rep Zoe Lofgren backs SJSU for suing Trump admin over transgender volleyball scandal dispute
A congressional Democrat has come forward to support San Jose State University and the California State University for its lawsuit against President Donald Trump's administration.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., expressed support on social media for SJSU's legal challenge to the U.S. Department of Education's findings that the university violated Title IX in its handling of a transgender volleyball player.
"I firmly stand with SJSU and the lawsuit they have just filed against the federal government to prevent punitive action against the university," Lofgren wrote.
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"The Trump Administration is attempting to freeze their federal funding based on alleged Title IX violations during the 2022-24 volleyball seasons. These claims aren’t grounded in the facts or the law, and I applaud SJSU for standing their ground and defending their students and institution from these politicized attacks."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Education Department for a response.
The department's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced at the end of January that an investigation into the university for its handling of a trans athlete and other players concluded that the school violated Title IX and gave SJSU an ultimatum to resolve the violation by agreeing to a series of conditions.
Among the department's findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. The department claims "SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering' the male athlete in online videos and interviews."
But now, instead of complying like the University of Pennsylvania did last summer related to its handling of trans swimmer Lia Thomas, SJSU and CSU are suing to prevent potential federal funding cuts.
"Because we believe OCR’s findings aren’t grounded in the facts or the law, SJSU and the CSU filed a lawsuit today against the federal government to challenge those findings and prevent the federal government from taking punitive action against the university, including the potential withholding of critical federal funding," SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said Friday.
"This is not a step we take lightly. However, we have a responsibility to defend the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law. Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so."
The school is also requesting that OCR rescind its findings and close its investigation.
Teniente-Matson affirmed the university's commitment to defending the LGBTQ community in the announcement.
"Our support for the LGBTQ members of our community, who have experienced threats and harms over the last several years, remains unwavering. We know the attention the university has received around this issue and the investigative process that followed have been unsettling for many in our community," the president said.
"We’ve heard the fear and anxiety that it has created and recognize that waiting for the university’s response has been difficult at a time already filled with uncertainty."
The university and its volleyball program were thrust into the national spotlight in 2024 after it was revealed the team had rostered trans athlete Blaire Fleming since 2022.
Former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit and led her own, alleging she was never told Fleming was a biological male when she joined the team and shared bedrooms and changing spaces with Fleming without that knowledge. Slusser has since said she shared an apartment and even, at times, beds with Fleming while not knowing Fleming's birth sex.
A federal judge made a ruling in Slusser's lawsuit last Tuesday. Colorado District Judge Kato Crews dismissed all the plaintiffs' charges against the Mountain West Conference but did not dismiss charges of Title IX violations against the CSU system.
Crews deferred his ruling on whether to dismiss those charges until after a decision in the ongoing B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected in June.
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