EXCLUSIVE: Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little has addressed the decision by Boise State University's volleyball team to forfeit Friday's Mountain West Tournament match against San Jose State.
Boise State forfeited to San Jose State for the third time this season, sacrificing a chance to win a championship by refusing to take the court against trans athlete Blaire Fleming as a national controversy over the team has erupted in recent months.
Little said there is an "unfortunate" element that his state's school will miss out on the chance to win a conference title, but commended the team as "leaders."
"It is unfortunate our women athletes must choose fairness in their sport and their own safety over their ability to play in a match-up they earned. Even with their biggest game of the season on the line, the Boise State women's volleyball team has consistently shown leadership for female athletes everywhere. Idaho will continue to fight to defend women's sports," Little told Fox News Digital.
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Little has been one of the Republican leaders at the forefront of combating trans inclusion in women's sports during the Biden administration. In August, he passed an executive order to enforce the "Defending Women's Sports Act" in his state, which requires public schools to restrict and prevent trans inclusion in girls' sports.
Boise State was one of the first teams to forfeit, losing its Sept. 28 regular season match against San Jose State earlier this season when the two teams were playing in California. Little commended the team for doing so then in an X post.
"I applaud [Boise State] for working within the spirit of my Executive Order, the Defending Women's Sports Act," his post on X read. "We need to ensure player safety for all of our female athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women's sports."
Boise State and San Jose State were scheduled to play a rematch for their regular season finale on Nov. 21.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Nov. 1, Little said he was confident that that game would also be forfeited, and the consequences of it potentially being played in his home state could incite the intervention of prosecutors.
"That will be something for a prosecutor and a judge to determine, I've got a pretty good level of confidence that it's not going to take place against the Boise State women athletes, it's just not going to happen here," Little said.
Little has taken a hard stance against trans inclusion in women's sports and told Fox News Digital he would back President-elect Trump's proposed full-on ban of trans athletes competing against biological females. It is an issue that took the country by storm in the recent election cycle.
Even for a state like Idaho, which has not had notable cases of trans athletes trying to participate against women, it was still an issue that became top of mind for voters. Little previously told Fox News Digital in August that there was no particular incident of trans inclusion happening in his state that played into his decision to pass the executive order, that the citizens in his state supported and backed the order due to the instances of it happening nationwide.
Idaho is one of 23 states that have laws set up to restrict or prevent transgender inclusion in women's sports. However, even some of the states with those laws have had incidents where trans inclusion in a girls' sport was enabled via the ruling of a federal judge.
Judges Landya McCafferty in New Hampshire and M. Hannah Lauck of Virginia, both of whom were appointed during the Obama administration, each passed rulings this year that enabled biological males to play on high school girls soccer and tennis teams. McCafferty passed a rule that allowed two trans athletes to compete on girls high school soccer teams in New Hampshire, while Lauck ruled that an 11-year-old trans tennis player was allowed to compete against girls the same age in Virginia.
Little admitted he worries about similar rulings affecting schools in his state, especially from judges from California. Idaho is in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which is shared with California, Oregon and Washington.
"You always worry about it," Little said. "We are in the ninth circuit, Idaho is, which, there is a lot of judges out of California, but that's a problem that we meet with on all kinds of fronts."
Little is now just one of many political figures to speak out in agreement with Boise State about its recent and consequential decision to forfeit the conference semifinal.
Texas state Rep. Justin Burrows gave his praise to Boise State in an X post.
"Big respect to Boise State's women's volleyball team for standing up for fairness by forfeiting their semifinal match against San Jose State, which has a biological man posing as a woman on the roster. Their decision shows real courage and a commitment to keeping women's sports fair. Proud to see them take a stand for what's right!" Burrow wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Little's fellow Idaho Republican, Sen. Jim Risch, spoke out against the Mountain West conference for allowing Fleming's participation in the first place.
"The [Mountain West] has failed our Boise State women's volleyball team. These women have worked too hard for too long to be denied their right to fair, safe competition. We must fight to protect women's sports," Risch wrote on X.
A federal judge had the ability to prevent Flaming from competing in the tournament but ruled to allow it instead. Kato Crews in Colorado, appointed by President Biden in January, denied a motion for injunctive relief in a lawsuit by college volleyball players against the conference.
A dozen women jointly filed the suit against the Mountain West and its commissioner, alleging violations of Title IX and their First Amendment rights. Among the women are SJSU co-volleyball captain Brooke Slusser and two former Spartans as well as athletes from other Mountain West schools.
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