Over the weekend, 17-year-old transgender athlete AB Hernandez participated in the girls’ track and field state championships. In direct defiance of President Donald Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” California allowed Hernandez to compete and qualify for the state championships, where he placed first in the high and triple jumps and took second place in the long jump.
Issued on Feb. 5, 2025, this order cites the “demeaning” and “unfair” nature of men competing in women’s sports as grounds for barring “educational institutions and athletic associations” from allowing transgender athletes to compete on teams misaligned with their sex. The executive order promises to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.” (RELATED: Trump’s Ban on Males in Female Sports: What It Does, Why It’s Justified, and the Left’s Outrage.)
Leading up to the state championships this weekend, Hernandez performed exceptionally well in the qualifying races, which were held amidst protests from parents and women’s rights organizations. While some parents stood with T-shirts and signs backing female-only women’s sports, a plane circled the event with a banner reading “No Boys in Girls’ Sports.” The event continued as planned despite these objections.
On May 27, three days prior to the qualifying races, the California Interscholastic Federation released a new rule about participation and placing in the state championships. The announcement, posted on X, dictated that “biological female” runners who missed qualifying for 2025 by one spot were invited to participate in the championship anyway. This principle was also extended so that any biological females who would have placed second would be allowed to share the first-place podium.
In response to this new rule, Trump threatened to revoke federal funding from the state. According to the executive order, this means a suspension of funding from any educational institution that enables a transgender athlete to compete in girls’ sporting events.
Trump also said he planned on speaking with California Gov. Gavin Newsom. During an interview with Charlie Kirk in March, Newsom himself admitted the “unfairness” of men competing in women’s sports. Trump cited Newsom’s position in his Truth Social post on the matter.
However, despite financial threats by the president if the authorities allowed the “transitioned person to compete in the State Finals,” Hernandez ran and won. Trump has been silent on the matter since his post on May 27, but this state championship has the potential to set a precedent for other such infractions of the order.
READ MORE:
Trump’s Ban on Males in Female Sports: What It Does, Why It’s Justified, and the Left’s Outrage.
The Spectator P.M. Ep. 119: Gavin Newsom Breaks With Democrats on Transgender Issues