Transgender Athlete Draws Protest At Girls' Track Meet

YORBA LINDA, CA — A transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High School ignited protests for the second consecutive year Saturday by competing against biological girls in a track meet in Yorba Linda, where she finished first in all three events she entered.

Senior AB Hernandez won the girls' long jump Saturday morning at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Preliminaries at Yorba Linda High School, the first of three events Hernandez entered, leaping 20-4 1/2 inches, more than a foot ahead of runner-up Gianna Gonzalez of Moorpark High School, who jumped 19- 1 1/2.

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Hernandez also finished in a five-way tie for first in the high jump, clearing 5-2 inches, and won the triple jump, leaping 42-4, more than 3 feet farther than second-place finisher Malia Strange of Shadow Hills High School, whose best jump was 39-7 1/2.

Prior to the start of Saturday's meet, a "Save Girls' Sports" rally was organized outside the event by Sophia Lorey, who played soccer at Costa Mesa-based Vanguard University and says allowing biological boys to compete against biological girls is inherently unfair.

Both of California's two leading Republican gubernatorial candidates, Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, were originally scheduled to attend the protest, but neither was able to make it, according to Lorey, the outreach director of California Family Council, which describes its mission as "Advancing God's design for life, family, & liberty through California's church, Capitol, & culture."

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

Hernandez's participation in a California Interscholastic Federation meet last year drew the ire 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.

"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.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has come under attack from the Trump administration 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."

According to the DOJ complaint, filed in federal court in Santa Ana, California's policies and practices "ignore undeniable biological differences between boys and girls, in favor of an amorphous `gender identity.' The results of these illegal policies are stark: girls are displaced from podiums, denied awards, and miss out on critical visibility for college scholarships and recognition."

The suit accuses the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation of engaging in illegal sex discrimination against female student athletes by allowing males to compete against them.

The DOJ alleges the state's policies deprive girls of the equal education and athletic opportunities afforded to them by federal law's Title IX prohibition against sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding.

"California is on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of history," Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. Attorney of the Central District of California said in a statement last year.

"Women deserve dignity, respect, and an equal opportunity to compete on their own sports teams. The time for talk is over. California must comply with Title IX and end its civil rights violations against women. No person, no state, is above the law."

California officials denied the state's policy is breaking the law. The state Attorney General's Office issued a statement saying: "Our office remains committed to defending and upholding California laws and the rights of all students, including transgender students, to be free from discrimination and harassment."

Also last year, three female high school students who oppose 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.

The plaintiffs, Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson and her sibling Madison McPherson, initiated their civil action based on experiences at Jurupa Valley High School.