Blaire Fleming
Blaire Rene Fleming is an American former college volleyball player for the . She received national attention in 2024 as one of the few transgender women athletes competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Early life
Born on Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Fleming was raised in Aldie, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., as an only child. She questioned her gender identity and discovered the word transgender in eighth grade, beginning her gender transition at age 14. She did not tell her teammates that she was transgender but was told by her coach that some of them knew. In the conference finals match-up against , after star went out of the game due to injury, Fleming made a season-high 12 kills in a four-set loss, ending the Chanticleers' season. She dropped out afterwards, feeling that she did not fit in at the school and struggling with her mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The went 21-9, losing in the Mountain West Conference championship game against . Fleming told her teammates that she was transgender after the season, which some of them had already heard rumored, and was accepted by the team. She missed almost half of the season due to injury as the team finished 13-18.
Before the 2024 season, a media firestorm began after Fleming was publicly outed as transgender by the website Reduxx. Fleming's friend and teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA that sought to bar transgender women from women's sports. Despite dealing with the unwanted attention and hate, Fleming posted a career-high 3.88 kills per set (leading the team) on a career-best 0.247 efficiency. San Jose State received a bye by forfeit into the Mountain West championship game, which they lost in four sets to .<ref name="NY25"/>
Early life
Born on Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Fleming was raised in Aldie, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., as an only child. She questioned her gender identity and discovered the word transgender in eighth grade, beginning her gender transition at age 14. She did not tell her teammates that she was transgender but was told by her coach that some of them knew. In the conference finals match-up against , after star went out of the game due to injury, Fleming made a season-high 12 kills in a four-set loss, ending the Chanticleers' season. She dropped out afterwards, feeling that she did not fit in at the school and struggling with her mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The went 21-9, losing in the Mountain West Conference championship game against . Fleming told her teammates that she was transgender after the season, which some of them had already heard rumored, and was accepted by the team. She missed almost half of the season due to injury as the team finished 13-18.
Before the 2024 season, a media firestorm began after Fleming was publicly outed as transgender by the website Reduxx. Fleming's friend and teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA that sought to bar transgender women from women's sports. Despite dealing with the unwanted attention and hate, Fleming posted a career-high 3.88 kills per set (leading the team) on a career-best 0.247 efficiency. San Jose State received a bye by forfeit into the Mountain West championship game, which they lost in four sets to .<ref name="NY25"/>
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