Inland Empire Transgender Athlete To Shoot for 3 Girls' CIF Titles

JURUPA VALLEY, CA — A transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High School who has drawn protests for competing against girls will attempt to win three state titles this weekend at the 106th CIF State Track & Field Championships in Clovis.

Senior AB Hernandez is entered in the girls' long jump, girls' high jump and girls' triple jump. The meet will be held over two days at Clovis' Buchanan High School, with qualifying on Friday and finals on Saturday.

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The top 13 marks in each event on Friday will advance to the finals. There are 24 students entered in Friday's high jump competition, 27 in the triple jump and 31 in the long jump.

Hernandez posted the best mark in all three events at last weekend's CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School. Her long jump of 20- 0 3/4 easily beat Jada Faison of Rosary Academy in Fullerton, who jumped 19-6 1/2.

Hernandez finished first in the girls' triple jump at 40-7, with Malia Strange of Shadow Hills High School in Indio next at 39-04 1/4.

Hernandez also finished first in the girls' high jump at 5-8, followed by five athletes who jumped 5-6: Sireya Furman of Alta Loma High School, Nieve Oliver of Camarillo High School, Amber Whipple of El Dorado High School, Gwynneth Mureika of Oak Park High School and Lily Kimura of South Pasadena High School.

The CIF restored a special rule instituted last year that allows second-place finishers in the biggest CIF meets to earn a gold medal and share the winners' podium with a trans athlete who finishes first.

The rule change did little to satisfy some critics of allowing trans athletes to participate in the girls' competition, including track and field athlete Olivia Viola of Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine.

"I would say it's nothing but a band-aid fix from the athletic governing board," Viola told Fox News' Dana Perino. "It doesn't actually undo all of the displacements that have happened throughout their entire league. It only applies to the final CIF meets. It doesn't apply to league, it doesn't apply to outside meets, it doesn't apply to other sports. It doesn't actually fix the problem; it's just a blanket to keep us quiet."

Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, told KQED that her child was disappointed to learn that the rule was put in place again.

"Because they had only mentioned it was going to be for the championships, we didn't think we'd have to deal with it again," she said, adding that the news "crushed [AB's] heart."

"She missed school on Monday. ... It's just been hard. ... It's kind of like she's nonexistent," she continued. "She puts in the work, she participates, but she wants to be honored. She wants to be acknowledged as the person, the athlete she is."

Hernandez also won the long jump and triple jump at last year's Division 3 finals and tied for seventh in the high jump. Her participation has ignited protest both years, including a "Save Girls' Sports" rally at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Preliminaries at Yorba Linda High School earlier this month organized by the California Family Council.

"Once again we're here to say this will never be the new normal," Sophia Lorey, the council's outreach director, said at the rally.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, one of the two leading Republicans running for California governor, agreed with that sentiment.

"As a dad, as a high school and middle school coach, and as a law enforcement leader, I will always stand up to protect our girls," Bianco said in a statement issued by his campaign. "There is no place in girls' sports to allow boys to compete against them. It is ethically and morally wrong. It is absolutely wrong to allow them into safe spaces of locker rooms and restrooms. Supposed leaders at CIF, school districts and our schools, are failing our girls. I want to thank the girls who have had the strength to stand up for what is right and I want you to know I will always be by your side."

Businessman Steve Hilton, the other leading GOP gubernatorial candidate, also sent a statement that was read at the Yorba Linda rally.

"What is happening is unfair to female athletes, unfair to parents and unfair to every girl who has worked hard for the chance to compete on a level playing field," Hilton said. "Girls deserve sports that are fair, safe and protected for female athletes. That should not be controversial."

Hernandez's participation last year also drew the attention of President Donald Trump, and the U.S. Justice Department later sued California for allegedly violating Title IX, warning that allowing transgender athletes to compete against biological females in high-school sports was putting billions of dollars in federal education funding at risk.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has come under attack for California's policy permitting trans athletes to compete in girls' sports, but a spokesperson for the governor's office characterized those attacks as politically motivated.

"The governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing's cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids," Newsom's office said in a statement provided to Fox News. "The governor's position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies."

Also last year, three female high school students who opposed the Jurupa Unified School District's policy of permitting biological boys identifying as transgender to participate in girls' sports filed a federal civil rights lawsuit seeking an end to the policy at the local and state levels.

"They swear I'm like this crazy danger to society. I'm just a normal kid going to school, playing sports," Hernandez told CBS News in an interview last year.