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6d ago

Transgender Athlete Wins California Girls’ State Track Titles as Trump Threatens Fines

The Justice Department has given California’s high school sports authority until June 9 to drop its gender identity policy or face Title IX litigation.

Before California's track and field meet on May 31, 2025, President Donald Trump demanded that transgender athletes like AB Hernandez not be allowed to compete in girls' track and field events. Three days before the meet, the California Interscholastic Federation enacted a rule change that allowed athletes assigned female at birth to receive medals based on where they would have finished if a transgender athlete had not competed. Hernandez, who placed first in the high jump and triple jump and finished second in the long jump, shared the podium with her cisgender competitors.
Guests witness Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signing the Save Women in Sports Act in Oklahoma City on March 30, 2022.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon gestures while attending a meeting of the Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 22, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo
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Overview

  • AB Hernandez, a transgender student at Jurupa Valley High School, claimed gold in the high jump and triple jump and silver in the long jump at the CIF state championships in Clovis.
  • Trump invoked his “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order on Truth Social, warning that California risks losing federal funding and facing large-scale fines for allowing a biological male to compete in girls’ events.
  • Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon notified public schools that CIF’s gender identity rule may violate the Equal Protection Clause and instructed them to certify compliance by June 9 or face legal action.
  • The California Interscholastic Federation piloted a rule allowing biological female athletes who placed behind Hernandez to share podium medals, a change Governor Gavin Newsom endorsed as reasonable despite his concerns about fairness.
  • Opponents at the meet carried “No Boys in Girls’ Sports” banners and chartered a plane to protest, while fellow competitors and Hernandez’s mother praised her sportsmanship and support for transgender inclusion.