Last week I wrote about the ongoing saga where a trans athlete from southern California named AB Hernandez was advancing through the various levels of track and field competitions in three different events. After competing in League events, Hernandez advanced to CIF prelims and qualified to compete in the southern sectional finals in long jump, triple jump and high jump. Hernandez won the regional titles in the long jump and the triple jump. That meant Hernandez was headed to the state finals.
At this point, President Trump called on Gov. Newsom to prevent Hernandez from competing in the finals. Newsom didn't respond to that but the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced new rules last week which would prevent a win in any event by a trans athlete (Hernandez) from eliminating an actual girl.
At the conclusion of the CIF Section’s Track and Field qualifying meets this past weekend, the CIF made the decision to pilot an entry process for the upcoming 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships. Please see the following statement: pic.twitter.com/qOjWl6eybR
— CIF State (@CIFState) May 27, 2025
While this is a recognition that the old rules were unfairly cheating girls of a chance to advance, it didn't solve the problem entirely because Hernandez was still allowed to advance to the state finals and win.
AB Hernandez, a transgender student athlete for Jurupa Valley High School, took first place in the girls' high jump and triple jump at the state championship on Saturday at Veteran's Memorial Stadium in Clovis, California.
Hernandez also finished in second place in the long jump to Woodrow Wilson High School's Loren Webster. Webster was the only female to finish ahead of Hernandez in any competition the trans athlete competed in this weekend.
Hernandez previously took first place in all three events at the preliminary round on Friday.
However, under the new rules, actual girls were given their correct place on the podium as if Hernandez was not there.
...female competitors who finished behind Hernandez in this weekend's events were all bumped up one spot and received the medal they would have earned had the trans athlete not competed...
So during the medal ceremonies for the three events, the female competitors who finished one spot behind Hernandez had to stand next to the trans athlete on the podium.
So there were two first-place winners in the events Hernandez won. What is the point of having someone compete in a state competition where their results don't actually count? Today, the Trump administration warned California again that a lawsuit and fines could be coming if changes aren't made.
In a letter addressed to the state’s public school districts, Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said on Monday that the California Interscholastic Federation violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause with its bylaw stating that all students “should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.” The letter directed school districts to certify in writing by June 9 that they wouldn’t follow the bylaw...
The participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports is one of several issues to which Dhillon has redirected her civil rights staff to focus on since she was sworn in in April. Last week, the Justice Department also announced it would be opening a Title IX investigation in California and filed a statement of interest in support of a federal lawsuit over state law A.B. 1266, which states that a “pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” Title IX is the federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools.
President Trump echoed this earlier this morning on Truth Social.
So we'll see where this goes. As Trump pointed out last week, Newsom has already admitted the situation is unfair. The new rules are an improvement but really don't explain why the trans person is competing at all if their place doesn't impact the results. Why should girls have to share a podium with a boy who has an unfair biological advantage?
On that point, it's worth noting that if Hernandez had competed with the boys, he wouldn't have been anywhere close to a podium:
Hernandez placed first in a three-way tie in the high jump, landing 5' 7"...
The boy's competition first-place winner jumped 6' 9".
In the long jump, Hernandez placed second with a jump just over 20 8”...
The boy's competition first-place winner jumped more than 25 ft.
Hernandez wouldn't even have made it to the state competition if he'd competed with other members of his sex. It was only by competing with the girls that Hernandez was able to dominate the competition and take home medals.
