Trans High School Track Athlete Wins Multiple Events at California State Finals, Prompting Podium Debate
Hernandez won the high jump, long jump and triple jump, but CIF rules required shared podium spots with other girls in two events.
- On Saturday, transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School won the high jump, long jump, and triple jump at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section finals, but a pilot policy required her to share the top podium with runner-up Gianna Gonzalez of Moorpark High School.
- California law has prioritized gender identity over sex in school athletics, and the CIF enacted a pilot program last year allowing cisgender female athletes to qualify for first place even without winning, while still permitting transgender athletes to compete.
- Hernandez edged Oak Park High School's Gwynneth Mureika by two inches in the high jump and jumped nearly two feet higher than Malia Strange of Shadow Hills in the triple jump, yet officials awarded co-winner gold medals to both runners-up under the pilot program.
- Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, defended her daughter against critics, telling the Los Angeles Times, "It's just the outsiders. They're infiltrating, pretending they're parents or they know people, but I'm the mom." Meanwhile, President Trump and the group Save Girls have criticized the policy as unfair to female athletes.
- Hernandez advanced to the state finals where heightened scrutiny is expected as the controversy moves to a larger stage, with officials and advocates preparing for further debate over transgender participation in girls' sports amid pending federal reviews.
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POLITICS: Shame on us: We’ve made girls fight for women’s sports alone
Federal law is supposed to forbid it, and even California Gov. Gavin Newsom calls it unfair. Yet on Saturday, AB Hernandez, a boy, swept the girls’ high jump, triple jump and long jump at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Sectionals competition. Hernandez’s dominating distances will most likely advance him to the state championships at the end of the month. CIF allowed the first-place girl in each event to share the podium with…
Riley Gaines: Calif. Transgender Athlete Podium-Sharing Policy ‘Psychological Abuse’ of Girls
“I believe they're just seeking a public humiliation ritual for the girls,” 12-time NCAA All-American female athlete Riley Gaines said Monday after California high school girls were forced to share the podium and first-place with a biological male at a track and field competition Saturday.
The Advocate
Out MagazineTrans athlete forced to share 1st place with cisgender girls at track meet
She jumped higher than any other girl and took first place in three track and field contests. But a state athletic policy enacted last year forced transgender athlete AB Hernandez to share the podium on Saturday with cisgender girls who couldn't match her performance. Hernandez, a two-time state champion representing Jurupa Valley High School, won the high jump, long jump, and triple jump competitions at the California Interscholastic Federation…
High school athletics in California were back in the center of the storm. During the finals of the Southern California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), held on Saturday in Moorpark, student AB Hernández, from Jurupa Valley High School, took the triumph in three female-grade jump tests: height, length and triple jump. What happened later in the awards ceremonies sparked the debate across the country.
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