Donald Trump plans to ban all transgender athletes following San Jose State controversy

Donald Trump, the current Republican nominee for president and a former president himself, has added his opinion to the debate around transgender athletes in sport.

Trump has suggested he will ban all trans people from competing in sports if elected president in the upcoming election, per the LA Times, this comes during an ongoing controversy surrounding the San Jose State women's basketball team.

The most recent controversy surrounding trans athletes comes following a video showing a trans member of the San Jose State Spartans women’s volleyball team spiking the ball into an opponent. The opponent, playing for San Diego State, was able to keep the ball in play and laughed off any attention she received following the play.

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Trump’s comments came during a town hall-style event on Fox News where the Republican nominee for president claimed, “I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head.”

Trump’s comments continued, “But other people, even in volleyball, they’ve been permanently, I mean, they’ve been really hurt badly. Women playing men. But you don’t have to do the volleyball. We stop it. We stop it. We absolutely stop it. You can’t have it.”

This led to his strongest statement on the matter yet, saying, “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

San Jose State disputed the claim the spike hit the opponent in the face, writing, “the ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play. We have called for corrections from multiple media outlets,” per the LA Times.

The issue has exploded in recent days following the University of Nevada women’s basketball team refusing to play against San Jose State given their inclusion of a trans player.

Nevada team captain Sia Liilii said, “For us, it always came down to ... equal opportunity, fair play on the court. Women have fought so hard to get to the point where we are, playing D1 volleyball and having matches like this. For someone who is a biological male to come in is not fair,” in an interview with the Nevada Gazette Journal.

Liilii continued, “I know what our team is going to do, and we are going to have integrity,” despite claims from the University the match will go ahead as scheduled despite the threats from players.

John DeGioia, who sits as the chair of the NCAA board of governors released a statement in support of San Jose State and their trans player, saying, “We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness across college sports,” before adding, “It is important that NCAA member schools, conferences and college athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”

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