A transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High School who has drawn protests for competing against girls won two events at the 106th CIF State Track & Field Championships in Clovis on Saturday night and finished third in another.
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AB Hernandez began Saturday’s competition at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School by leaping 20-2 1/4 to finish third in the long jump. Ellie McCuskey-Hay of St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco and Gianna Gonzalez of Moorpark both jumped 20-3 1/2, with McCuskey-Hay taking first on the basis on a better second jump, 20-1 1/4 to 19-3 1/4.
Corinne Jones of Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley was also credited with a third-place finish with a leap of 19-9 1/2.
ALSO SEE: ‘I don’t care,’ says Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, transgender athlete at center of controversy
Under CIF policy, transgender athletes who place at the state championships receive medals but do not displace cisgender girls in the final standings.
The federation announced last year that the policy would apply specifically to the long jump, triple jump and high jump — the three events Hernandez competed in — and the rule remained in effect for her three events this weekend.
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Hernandez cleared 5-10 to win the high jump. Lelani Laruelle of Monta Vista High School in Cupertino was also credited with a first-place finish, clearing 5-8.
Hernandez won the triple jump with a leap of 42-8 3/4 inches. Daniela Hughes of Los Altos High School in Silicon Valley was also credited with a first-place finish, with a jump of 41-1, 1-7 3/4 shorter than Hernandez.
In last year’s state championships, Hernandez won the girls’ triple jump and high jump and finished second in the long jump.
ALSO SEE: Combe, Zavaleta and Hernandez claim multiple titles at CIF State meet
Hernandez’s participation has ignited protest both years.
On Saturday, the Rainbow Families Action group conducted a news conference outside the stadium in support of Hernandez. Counter-protesters showed up toward the end and shouted toward the Hernandez supporters and the two sides exchanged some words before dispersing, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Inside the stadium, spectators cheered as Hernandez began her long-jump approach, and some fans wore bracelets bearing the message “We Stand With AB,” according to the Times.
California’s two major Republican candidates for governor, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and businessman Steve Hilton, have both issued statements against trans athletes competing against girls.
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Hilton appeared in Clovis on Friday beside signs that read, “Hey, CIF: Girls’ Sports Girls Only.”
Hilton told Fox News this week that if elected, he would work to prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports.
“The first thing we have to do is overturn the law that set all this in motion, AB 1266, that was passed in 2013, that’s why we’ve been living with this for so long,” he said. “That law violates the California state constitution … I will immediately suspend the law while we begin legal proceedings to overturn it.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer released a video Friday of a prior conversation he had with Hernandez.
“I’m so proud of you for what you’re doing,” Steyer tells the teen in the video. “So proud of you for succeeding. So proud of you for competing. That’s really the point. And I’m going to hope like heck that you don’t just make state but you do really well there.”
The social media post that included the video had this post from Steyer: “The role of the governor is to protect Californians, and to stand between them and danger. That’s a role I take very, very seriously, particularly when it comes to trans youth.”
Steyer also addressed the issue last weekend on the “I’ve Had It” podcast.
“When you understand the vulnerability, the stress, the danger of being a trans kid, and you understand almost half of them try to commit suicide, then you think, ‘We’re gonna punish those kids, we’re gonna cut them off from team sports?” he said. “No, we’re not.”
Hernandez, who graduated from Jurupa Valley High Wednesday, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that she blocks out the uproar over her participation, including the presence of protesters.
“Track is a very singular sport; it teaches you to rely on yourself,” Hernandez said. “Once you’re on the track, you just stay focused on the track.”
“I just laughed” she said of the protesters. “I don’t care.”
Hernandez’s participation in last year’s CIF meet 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.”
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