Democrat state lawmaker debates former NCAA volleyball player who forfeited to SJSU team with trans athlete

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Arizona state senator Catherine Miranda, a Democrat, has come under scrutiny on social media after an exchange with formerNCAAvolleyball player and “save women’s sports” activist Kaylie Ray.

Ray showed up to the Arizona Senate Education committee hearing on Wednesday to lobby for a bill that would protect women’s sports from biological males.She spoke from the perspective of a former Utah State captain who led a team forfeit against San Jose State in 2024, in protest of a trans athlete on San Jose State University (SJSU).

After Ray shared her testimony, Miranda opened her response by commenting on Ray’s appearance.

The Mountain West Conference logo is seen before the championship game of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament between the Utah State Aggies and the San Diego State Aztecs at the Thomas &Mack Center on March 16, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (David Becker/Getty Images)

DEMOCRAT REP ZOE LOFGREN BACKS SJSU FOR SUING TRUMP ADMIN OVER TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL DISPUTE

(left) former NCAA volleyball player Kaylie Ray, (right) Arizona state senator Catherine Miranda.(Courtesy of ICONS, Arizona state legislature)

“But this is just my opinion … and that’s why this bill is bad, because you’re just putting a whole community of women’s sports in one category.When women like me, we have a different opinion.So, how competitive do you think you really are?”

According to a 2017 post inHispanic Engineer &Technology, Miranda previously spoke about her experience playing sports with her brother.

“Sports was my life.There were four girls and one boy in my family.My brother turned me into his ‘little brother’ so he could have someone to play sports with.I was a 100% tomboy,” and claimed she was the only girl to play in a local little league, the website reported.

Ray argued back to Miranda at the hearing that theproposed billwould include three gender categories, male, female and co-ed.

“If you want to compete against your man, absolutely, let’s do that in the co-ed section,” Ray said.

“The clarity and distinction is really important.Because when men are allowed access into women’s sports and spaces, it isn’t women’s sports and spaces anymore.”

‘HORRIBLE’ MOMENTS EXPOSED FOR UNR VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS WHEN THEY WERE ROPED INTO THE SJSU TITLE IX SCANDAL

“I wonder if she could look Riley Gaines, Brooke Slusser, Lainey Armistead, Madison Kenyon, Mary Kate Marshall, and every single girl who has been forced to compete against a man in the eyes and tell them they simply are not competitive enough?” Ray said.

“Wanting fairness does not make someone a coward.Wanting safe and equal competition does not mean a girl does not have what it takes.It means she respects herself and the effort and dedication that women have put into building opportunities in sports.No single woman has the right to give away the opportunities and protections that so many others worked so hard to secure.”

Kaylie Ray stands beside Brooke Slusser as she speaks outside the U.S.Supreme Court.(Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom)

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Ray, a three-time Mountain West conference championship, was one of five conference teams to forfeit at least one match to San Jose State in the 2024 season amid controversy over trans athlete Blaire Fleming.After finishing her graduate degree at Weber State in 2025, she spoke at a ‘save women’s sports’ rally outisde the U.S.Supreme Court in January.

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She spoke alongside Slusser, who was the SJSU co-captain who filed a lawsuit after sharing a team and apartment with Fleming in 2023 without knowing Fleming was a transgender biological male.

The SJSU controversy has come back into the national spotlight in 2026, after the school as the university hassued the federal governmentto challenge a Deparment of Education investigation that determined the school violated Title IX in its handling of Fleming.

U.S.Education Secretary Linda McMahon responded to the lawsuit on Wednesday, giving the university a deadline of 10 days to come to a resolution agreement, or face funding cuts and a referral to the Department of Justice.

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Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.