The dispute around a women's volleyball team touches on a broader question: How to define 'fair'

NEW YORK -- They play connected nan aforesaid team, but they couldn’t beryllium further apart.

One personnel of nan women’s volleyball squad astatine San Jose State University has signed connected to being portion of a national lawsuit against nan NCAA challenging nan beingness of transgender athletes successful women’s assemblage sports. The circumstantial personification she cites? One of her ain teammates.

The business swirling astir nan SJSU squad — which has gotten progressively chaotic successful caller weeks, pinch respective teams canceling matches against nan schoolhouse and politicians and advocates weighing successful — someway seems unsurprising successful nan polarized United States these days arsenic a highly contested predetermination looms.

As pinch different points of conflict successful nan struggle complete gender personality and transgender rights, 1 point opposing sides person successful communal is framing their stance arsenic a matter of what’s adjacent and right.

Where they guidelines a chasm isolated is successful 1 basal sticking point, a reliable mobility successful immoderate arena: What does ‘fairness’ really mean?

That nan thought of what is adjacent aliases not tin alteration from personification to personification astir apt shouldn’t beryllium surprising. After all, a consciousness of correct and incorrect is portion of nan quality world view, formed from highly indvidual factors for illustration each person's environment, nan cultures they turn up and unrecorded in, and their experiences.

And while subject and investigation into areas for illustration hormone curen and transgender diversion performance, which is only successful nan early stages astatine present, could astatine immoderate constituent supply much aesculapian accusation and data, it still won't reply nan mobility of “what is fair," says Dr. Bradley Anawalt, a hormone master and professor of medicine astatine nan University of Washington School of Medicine.

“The subject is going to beryllium capable to let america to immoderate grade cipher nan advantages and disadvantages. And eventually, pinch bully studies, we’re going to person an thought of when, really agelong you have, to suppress somebody’s testosterone level ... really agelong does it return for differences successful musculus spot and musculus wide to travel down,” says Anawalt, who is besides a personnel of nan NCAA Committee connected Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

“So those kinds of questions we tin answer, but we’re ne'er going to beryllium capable to reply this basal mobility astir fairness," he says. "Because that is not a aesculapian aliases a technological concept. It’s a societal justness and a quality concept."

Fairness came up often Saturday astatine a rally supporting nan women’s volleyball squad from nan University of Nevada, Reno, the latest of 5 teams to forfeit against SJSU. Players had refused to “participate successful immoderate lucifer that advances injustice against female athletes,” and immoderate reiterated that stance astatine nan rally.

The rally drew respective 100 people. McKenna Dressel, a inferior from Gilbert, Arizona, told nan crowd that her dream since she was a young woman of being a assemblage jock has been turned upside down.

“Our play has been filled pinch turmoil and headache. We person each been straight affected by nan distraction of having to guidelines up for our authorities that were established complete 50 years ago,” she said, making a reference to national anti-discrimination rule known arsenic Title IX. She added: “Trailblazing female athletes paid nan value truthful that we tin bask adjacent competition.”

Issues astir transgender authorities person been a lightning rod successful American authorities successful caller years, and they are 1 cardinal quality betwixt supporters of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during this predetermination season. Several states person introduced aliases enacted authorities astir aesculapian care, entree to nationalist accommodations for illustration bathrooms, and information successful younker sports. This governmental and taste backdrop makes nan attraction surrounding nan SJSU business much understandable.

SJSU has not confirmed nan beingness of a transgender jock connected nan team. The subordinate being referenced has ne'er said thing publically astir gender personality earlier aliases since nan suit filings aliases successful nan aftermath of online accounts making nan claim. Because of that, The Associated Press is withholding her name.

That doesn't mean nan harsh glare of nan nationalist oculus hasn't had an effect connected nan team, which is trying to make it to nan NCAA tourney aft much than 20 years. San Jose State coach Todd Kress says nan squad is receiving “messages of hate.”

Advocates for transgender authorities invoke fairness arsenic good successful pushing for those who are transgender to beryllium capable to unrecorded arsenic authentically arsenic possible, and not beryllium discriminated against aliases denied entree to opportunities because of gender identity. Fair, they say, is straight linked to entree and participation.

“It is disappointing that politicization of sports has meant immoderate teams person denied SJSU and themselves opportunities to play, simply because a squad mightiness person a transgender player,” nan section San Jose/Peninsula section of PFLAG said successful a connection astir nan situation. “All student-athletes, including trans athletes, merit nan aforesaid chance to beryllium portion of a team, study from 1 another, and respect nan game. Transgender athletes belong.”

It's not astonishing that issues astir transgender authorities and beingness person specified an outsized spotlight successful nan world of sports contempt nan fractionally mini number of instances of transgender athletes. That's because sports is an arena wherever “fairness" — successful nan shape of a level playing section of rules and regulations that are expected to use arsenic to everyone — is cardinal to nan mythology.

“Maybe it’s because of nan nice, sanitized measurement successful which we devour athletics arsenic an audience," says Sarah Fields, who studies really sports intersects pinch American culture. She says sports thrive connected “our innate, possibly quality desire — but surely American desire — for fairness.”

"It’s a standardized section pinch standardized rules and standardized uniforms,” says Fields, a professor of connection astatine nan University of Colorado Denver. “So it has this quality of fairness. And past it often falls isolated erstwhile a crippled goes connected and 1 broadside destroys nan different aliases 1 swimmer is 2 laps down another. But astatine slightest astatine nan beginning, there’s an illusion of fairness successful nan measurement it looks.”

That masks nan reality of playing sports, particularly astatine nan elite level of assemblage athletics and beyond, she says. People are calved pinch a scope of familial traits for illustration height, reflexes, speed, and assemblage shapes that tin furnish them pinch advantages. Then location are economical and societal resources that tin propel 1 person's diversion travel successful a measurement that it doesn't for others.

Fields points to nan illustration of a South African runner successful nan 1980s who was barred from world title because of boycotts against her federation complete its apartheid policies. The runner, Zola Budd, became a British national and ran successful nan 1984 Olympics.

Anawalt echoes specified an thought — that a solution to nan “fairness” mobility is muddy, elusive and possibly yet unanswerable.

“When we talk astir fairness successful competition, what we’re really trying to do is say, well, we’ve created a level playing field,” he says. “And nan truth is we ne'er rather win successful doing that. And truthful wherever do you tie nan agleam achromatic statement successful position of what’s adjacent and what’s not fair?”

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Associated Press analogous Scott Sonner successful Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.