AB Hernandez will compete in Saturday’s finals of the girls’ long jump and triple jump in the CIF State Track & Field Championships in Clovis, one day after the Jurupa Valley High School junior and only openly transgender athlete competing in the event posted the best marks in both events in the prelims.
Hernandez will also be competing in the girls’ high jump finals after being the only jumper to clear 5 feet, 5 inches without a miss. Five other jumpers also cleared 5-5, but each missed at least once.
Hernandez’s 19-11 3/4 long jump was 6 1/4 inches longer than the second-longest jump, 19-5 1/2 by Ellie McCuskey-Hay a junior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco.
Hernandez’s 40-9 3/4 triple jump was 9 3/4 inches longer than the second-longest jump, 40-0, by Kira Gant Hatcher of Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley,
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is opening an investigation to determine if a state law allowing transgender athletes to compete on female sports teams at California schools violates the federal Title IX civil rights law.
The department sent letters to state Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and the California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees high school sports in the state, informing them of the investigation.
According to the DOJ, the investigation specifically targets state Assembly Bill 1266, the 2013 legislation aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender students and ensuring their right to take part in school activities, including athletics.
It also targets a CIF bylaw “that permits, directs, instructs or requires California high schools to allow males to participate in girls’ interscholastic athletics, thereby depriving girls and young women of equal athletic opportunities.”
Without using her name, the DOJ letter to the CIF specifically references Hernandez.
“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education. It is perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement. “This division will aggressively defend women’s hard-fought rights to equal educational opportunities.”
On Tuesday, the CIF announced a change in the entry rules for the state meet, essentially expanding the field of competitors in various events to ensure biological females are not excluded from the competition due to the performance of trans athletes.
On Wednesday, the CIF announced a further rule change, made specifically for the three events Hernandez is competing in that will reward biological female athletes who would have earned a place at the podium if not for the presence of trans athletes.
The DOJ Title IX investigation came one day after President Donald Trump posted on social media that he would withhold federal funding from California if transgender athletes are allowed to compete in girls sports, and he called on local authorities to prevent Hernandez from competing in this weekend’s CIF State meet.
“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newsom, continues to ILLEGALLY allow `MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’ This week a transitioned male athlete, at a major event, won `everything,’ and is now qualified to compete in the `State Finals’ next weekend.”
The athlete Trump is presumably referring to is Hernandez.
“As a male, he was a less than average competitor. As a female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable. THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” Trump wrote. “Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to.
“The Governor, himself, said it is `UNFAIR.’ I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go??? In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!”