Riley Gaines slams suspension of SJSU's assistant coach for speaking out against inclusion of alleged transgender athlete Blaire Fleming

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Nov 03, 2024 03:26 GMT

Riley Gaines has slammed the suspension of San Jose State University's assistant coach for the women's volleyball team, for speaking out against the inclusion of Blaire Fleming, who is reportedly a transgender athlete. Melissa Batie-Smoose, the assistant coach for the San Jose State Spartans, has been suspended indefinitely by the university administration.

The university administration issued an official statement to the press, where they reported:

"The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter."

Gaines slammed the move, taking to X to express her thoughts. She posted:

"Yesterday, the SJSU assistant women’s volleyball coach filed a Title IX complaint against her university for allowing a man to play on the women’s team.Today, she was suspended, effective immediately.This is how they get people to comply—through force."

"Her suspension comes just a day after this bombshell of an article was released where she laid out all the injustices committed by @SJSU, @MountainWest, and @NCAA. Not just insane practices, totally unlawful," Gaines further added in the same thread.

Riley Gaines called out San Jose State University for continuing with Blaire Fleming. She has also supported educational institutions like the University of Wyoming, the University of Nevada, and Southern Utah University, who have openly boycotted their games against the San Jose State University.

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Riley Gaines on SJSU player Brooke Slusser receiving death threats

Riley Gaines on her support for SJSU player Brooke Slusser [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source: Getty]

The support for Melissa Batie-Smoose isn't the only occasion when Riley Gaines has slammed the San Jose State University administration for their high-handedness. Previously, Brooke Slusser, who is a member of the same team as Blaire Fleming, received death threats for calling out the forced inclusion of transgender women in women's sports.

Slusser had signed up for the lawsuit against the NCAA. The lawsuit, which was filed in early 2024, accused the NCAA of being biased in favor of including transgender athletes in women's sports. Slusser also spoke out against her teammate Fleming, for which she received death threats.

Gaines slammed the university administration for being silent about this, as she posted on her X handle:

"A female player on SJSU volleyball team received death threats after signing on to the Gaines vs NCAA lawsuit. The DM said that her team needed to keep their distance from her because something bad was going to happen. So much for tolerance & inclusion..."

Riley Gaines has been fighting against the inclusion of transgenders in women's sports since 2022 when she spoke out against the inclusion of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Apart from that, Gaines has also filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for promoting transgender athletes in women's sports along with 15 other female athletes.