CLOVIS, Calif. — Overcoming intense stress to stop from President Trump, dozens of native protesters and different outstanding critics of transgender athletes in women’ sports activities, 16-year-old AB Hernandez bounded previous lots of her friends to win a number of gold medals at California’s highschool monitor and subject championships Saturday.
The transgender junior from Jurupa Valley Excessive College — who competed regardless of a directive from Trump that she be barred from doing so — gained state titles within the women’ triple leap and the woman’s excessive leap and took second place within the women’ lengthy leap.
Hernandez’s success on the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships in Clovis got here amid excessive warmth — with temperatures above 100 levels for a lot of the day — and underneath an intense highlight.
Earlier within the week, Trump had mentioned on social media that he was “ordering native authorities, if obligatory, to not permit” Hernandez to compete, wrongly alleging she had gained “every thing” in a previous meet and calling her “virtually unbeatable.” Protesters gathered outdoors the meet each Friday and Saturday to denounce her inclusion and the LGBTQ+-friendly state legal guidelines permitting it.
Regardless of all that, Hernandez appeared calm and targeted as she competed. When her identify was introduced for the lengthy leap, she waved to the gang. When she was introduced for the excessive leap, she smiled.
Hernandez beat out all different opponents within the triple leap, although the runner-up was additionally awarded 1st place underneath new guidelines established by the California Interscholastic Federation after Trump issued his threats.
Hernandez tied with two different women within the excessive leap, with the three of all of them clearing the identical top and sharing the gold.
Hernandez’s mom, Nereyda Hernandez, heaped reward on her after the occasions in an announcement supplied to The Occasions, saying, “As your mom, I can not absolutely specific how PROUD I’m of you.”
“Watching you rise above months of being focused, misunderstood, and judged not by friends, however by adults who ought to’ve identified higher, has left me in awe of your energy,” her mom mentioned. “Regardless of all of it, you stayed targeted. You saved coaching, you saved exhibiting up, and now you’re bringing THE GOLD HOME!!!
Throughout a few of Hernandez’s jumps, a protester may very well be heard on a bullhorn from outdoors the Buchanan Excessive College stadium chanting “No boys in women’ sports activities!” California Interscholastic Federation officers banned protest indicators inside the ability, however outdoors protesters held a variety of them — together with ones that learn “No Baby Is Born within the Incorrect Physique,” “Trans Women Are Boys: CIF Do Higher,” and “She Trains to Win. He takes the trophy?”
Josh Fulfer, a 46-year-old father and conservative on-line influencer who lives close to the stadium, mentioned he was the protester on the bullhorn. He mentioned Hernandez shouldn’t have been competing — no matter how she positioned — as a result of her presence within the competitors had a unfavorable “psychological impact” on her cisgender opponents.
“I stand with reality,” he mentioned. “Males shouldn’t be pretending to be females, they usually shouldn’t be competing in opposition to feminine athletes.”
Loren Webster, a senior from Wilson Excessive College in Lengthy Seashore who beat Hernandez within the lengthy leap, mentioned she wasn’t giving Hernandez a lot thought — as an alternative, she was targeted on her personal efficiency.
“It wasn’t some other particular person I used to be nervous about. I knew what I used to be able to,” Webster mentioned. “I can’t management the uncontrollable.”
A baby holds a protest signal alongside a member of the family and others against transgender athlete AB Hernandez competing within the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships, at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
The extreme deal with Hernandez over two days of competitors Friday and Saturday mirrored a broad rise in conservative outrage over transgender women competing in sporting occasions nationwide, regardless of their representing a tiny fraction of opponents. It additionally mirrored a concerted effort by Trump and different outstanding conservative figures to single out Hernandez, individually, as an unwitting poster little one for such considerations.
Current polls, together with one carried out by The Occasions final 12 months, have proven that many Individuals help transgender rights, however a majority oppose transgender women collaborating in youth sports activities. California has lengthy defended transgender youngsters and their proper to take part in youth athletics, however different states have more and more moved to restrict or take away such rights fully.
Marci Unusual helps protestors as they protest in opposition to transgender athlete AB Hernandez competing Within the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships, at Veterans Memorial Stadium Within the campus of Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
Trump first latched onto transgender points with fervor throughout his presidential marketing campaign, spending tens of millions of {dollars} on anti-transgender political advertisements. Since being elected, he has issued a wave of govt orders and different insurance policies aimed toward rolling again transgender rights and protections.
Time and again, Hernandez has been singled out in that dialogue.
Earlier this week, Trump referenced Hernandez in a social media put up by which he mentioned his administration would minimize federal funding to California if it didn’t block her from competing on this weekend’s state finals and extra broadly get consistent with his govt order purporting to ban transgender youth from collaborating in class sports activities nationwide.
The next day, U.S. Justice Division officers referenced Hernandez once more, saying the launch of an investigation into whether or not California, its interscholastic sports activities federation and the Jurupa Unified College District are violating the civil rights of cisgender women by permitting transgender college students resembling Hernandez to compete in sports activities.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley Excessive College within the excessive leap on the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships at Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
On the meet Friday and Saturday, Hernandez typically blended in with the a whole lot of different athletes, hardly drawing consideration. She was much less conspicuous by far than the protesters there to denounce her for competing.
Hernandez’s mom has pleaded with Trump and different adults in current days to point out her daughter compassion, calling it heartbreaking “each time I see my little one being attacked, not for a wrongdoing, however merely for being who they’re.”
She has mentioned her daughter “isn’t a menace,” whereas the harassment directed at her is “not simply merciless, it’s harmful.”
Native protesters — some with ties to nationwide conservative organizations — solid Hernandez’s competing in women’ occasions in starkly totally different phrases.
Earlier than being escorted out by police, Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the conservative California Household Council, walked across the stadium Saturday sporting a hat studying, “Girls’s Sports activities, Girls Solely.” She instructed members of the gang that Hernandez was a boy and handed out pink “Save Women’ Sports activities” bracelets and fliers directing individuals to a web based petition calling on the California Interscholastic Federation to vary its insurance policies to bar transgender athletes from competitors.
Trump administration officers have taken the same stance.
In a letter Wednesday to interscholastic federation govt director Ronald W. Nocetti, Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon, who was appointed by Trump to move the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division, referred to as Hernandez’s success in current monitor and subject occasions “alarming.” And he or she mentioned the California insurance policies permitting Hernandez to compete are a possible violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal civil rights regulation prohibiting intercourse discrimination in instructional applications and different actions that obtain federal funding.
Dhillon additionally famous Gov. Gavin Newsom’s personal current comment to conservative activist Charlie Kirk that transgender women competing in sports activities is “deeply unfair.”
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed in three occasions together with the excessive leap, triple leap and lengthy leap on the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships at Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
The comment got here in a dialog on Newsom’s podcast in March, by which Hernandez was additionally singled out.
Kirk, a co-founder of the conservative group Turning Level USA, requested Newsom whether or not he would voice his opposition to Hernandez competing in women’ monitor and subject occasions. Newsom mentioned he agreed such conditions had been “unfair” however that he additionally took subject with “the way in which that folks discuss all the way down to susceptible communities,” together with transgender individuals.
When Kirk steered Newsom may say that he has “a coronary heart for” Hernandez however nonetheless thinks her competing is unfair, Newsom once more mentioned he agreed.
Newsom has issued no such assertion since. However, the enjoying subject has shifted in California for transgender athletes since Trump began speaking about Hernandez.
On Wednesday, the CIF introduced a change in its guidelines for this weekend’s championships. Underneath the brand new guidelines, a cisgender woman who’s bumped from qualifying for an occasion ultimate by a transgender athlete will nonetheless advance to compete within the finals. As well as, the federation mentioned, any cisgender woman who’s overwhelmed by a transgender competitor can be awarded whichever medal she would have claimed had the transgender athlete not been competing.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley Excessive College within the excessive leap on the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships at Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
The CIF didn’t point out Hernandez by identify in saying its coverage change, however it did make direct reference to the excessive leap, triple leap and lengthy leap — the three occasions by which she was to compete.
Underneath the brand new guidelines, Hernandez shared her place on every of the occasion podiums with different women.
The CIF didn’t reply to an inventory of questions on its new coverage. A spokesman for Newsom applauded the change, however others had been unimpressed.
Critics of transgender athletes rejected it as inadequate and demanded a full ban on transgender athletes. Fulfer, the protester on the bullhorn, mentioned the CIF was “admitting that they’ve obtained it fallacious for a very long time” whereas nonetheless not doing sufficient to repair it — which Trump would see clearly.
“I hope Donald Trump sees what occurs this weekend, and I hope he pulls the funding away from California,” Fulfer mentioned.
LGBTQ+ advocates additionally criticized the rule change, however for various causes, calling it a crass capitulation that singled out an adolescent to appease a crowd of bullies choosing a political battle.
“The truth that these similar political gamers proceed to bully and harass one little one, even after CIF modified its coverage, exhibits this was by no means about sports activities or equity,” mentioned Kristi Hirst, co-founder of the general public training advocacy group Our Faculties USA.
“It was merely about utilizing a baby, whereas compromising their private security on a nationwide scale, to attain political factors and distract from the intense points households and communities on this nation are literally involved about,” Hirst mentioned, “affording groceries, the lack of well being care, and entry to high quality academics and sources of their public colleges.”
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez competed for Jurupa Valley Excessive College within the lengthy leap on the 2025 CIF State Observe and Discipline Championships at Buchanan Excessive College in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle / For The Occasions)
Nereyda Hernandez mentioned she hoped AB’s wins would function inspiration for different youngsters who really feel “unseen.”
“To each younger particular person watching, particularly those that really feel unseen or unheard, let AB be your reminder that authenticity, braveness, and resilience shine BRIGHTER than hate,” she mentioned. “It gained’t be simple, however undoubtedly price it.”
