Riley Gaines Leads Rally With University Of Nevada Volleyball Captain Sia Liilii To Protect Sports For Women
Rather than playing against a male player on the San Jose State women's volleyball team, the University of Nevada women's team pivoted away and held a rally at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on Saturday to highlight the ongoing fight to keep trans athletes (men) from destroying the future of women's athletics.
UNR had a match originally scheduled for Saturday until the Wolf Pack women spoke up, announcing that they would not compete against SJSU's Blaire Fleming (born a male) — accepting a forfeiture — to send a message to collegiate athletes to stand for truth.
READ: Nevada Volleyball Officially Forfeits Against San Jose State, Transgender Player Blaire Fleming
The event was a resounding success. The Wolf Pack players often showed emotion, though the reaction was more out of triumph.
Limited to standing room minutes before the event, the "Women's Sports Are For Women Only" event showed the real support that the Reno community offers.
Men clamored for the UNR team to speak truth and women cheered as Gaines, UNR co-captain Sia Liilii and others called out the injustices allowed by the NCAA, the Mountain West Conferences, and San Jose State by championing trans athletes' inclusion.
Sia Liilii and eight of her teammates took the stage on Saturday — alongside Riley Gaines — in the event held by the ICONS (Independent Council on Women's Sports) team — intended to encourage more women, men, and individuals to speak up against the injustices of allowing men to compete in women's athletics.
BREAKING: San Jose State-Nevada Volleyball Match Moved To SJSU Campus
The University of Nevada became the fifth school to forfeit its competition against the SJSU Spartans.
Sia Liilii, co-captain at Nevada, stands up for women against trans athletes (OutKick: Alejandro Avila)
(The women of UNR stand up for women against trans athletes (OutKick: Alejandro Avila))
Despite UNR’s consensus not to compete against San Jose, the Wolf Pack program refused to support its women.
"I feel in that meeting that we had where our university told us that we would have to play it," Liilii said after the event, detailing her discussions with UNR. "I felt like I just had no air, like I was being actively silenced."
Riley Gaines, who launched a major campaign against the inclusion of trans athletes after competing against Lia Thomas in the NCAA's national swim championship, sounded the alarm for people to take action before it's too late; including demanding action from NCAA's Charlie Baker.
ICONS has launched a lawsuit, joined by SJSU volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser, to pressure the NCAA into abiding by the original definition of Title IX rather than prioritizing "gender identity" over biological sex.
UNR athletic director Stephanie Rempe has proclaimed that competing against Blaire Fleming is done in the name of "inclusion," even if the Wolf Pack women fear for their safety by competing against the trans athlete.
"Do the right thing," Gaines said. "Stop treating girls as an afterthought."
Fleming is a 6-foot-1 male competing against women in a sport in which regulation nets for women are much shorter than for men. Women, including Liilii and Gaines, need support from their institutions. When the women at UNR agreed to forfeit against SJSU, UNR responded by wanting to force the women into showing up for the Oct. 26 match. The conference agreed to let the women switch venues to San Jose after the women at UNR backed out.
After the Nevada Wolf Pack competed against Fresno on Thursday, the University of Nevada sent two buses for the players. One bus was headed toward San Jose, and the other was a trip back home for the women who opted not to play against Fleming. During matches in the last two weeks, Fleming knocked down two competitors with his force.
The women of UNR stand up for women against trans athletes (OutKick: Alejandro Avila)
READ: Trans Blaire Fleming Blasts A Spike Off Opponent's Head & Now America Is Talking
A resounding message of "Unity" was evoked by the UNR women, reminding people that many women are begging to keep women's athletics from going extinct.
"I think this situation just allowed us to really embrace it," Liilii said, speaking about the team's forfeiture and her team's principles. "I mean, at the beginning of the season, we talked about our core values, and we're like, yeah, of course, you're going to fight. …
"We're not backing down. We're fighting for this because it affects not only us. It's bigger than just listening to this woman's voice.
"If we were to let this proceed and this affects my nieces, I mean, I have family. My little sister could play sports if I was like, one more case is not okay."
These women are brave, and their actions show that.
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