Donald Trump has promised to levy “large-scale fines” against California after a transgender high schooler won first place in two state championship track-and-field events. However, any fines would likely face an immediate court challenge, just as they did recently in Maine, especially since California changed its policies so that the trans athlete wouldn’t compete directly with other cisgender female athletes.
Last weekend, AB Hernandez, a trans student-athlete, won the state’s high school track-and-field championships for the high jump and the long jump. Before the competition, Trump called her participation “not fair and totally demeaning to women and girls.” When he threatened to permanently end federal funding to the state and ask local cops to stop her from competing, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the governing body overseeing the state’s high school sports programs, announced that it would place Hernandez in her own separate category just for trans female athletes. Some called the move a “partial ban” on trans athletes.
Related
FBI is trying to get people to snitch on clinics they believe are performing gender-affirming care
The move is likely to result in a chilling effect further jeopardizing young people’s access to necessary healthcare.
“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so… As Governor Gavin Newscum fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
The Trump administration has used Title IX, a 1972 federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in education, to persecute schools that allow trans female athletes to compete directly with cis female athletes in school sports. The administration has argued that Title IX protects girls and women from having to compete against trans athletes in female sports competitions.
However, because the CIF changed its rules to ensure that Hernandez wouldn’t compete directly with cis female athletes, it may be difficult for the president to claim that the state violated Title IX.
The president issued a similar pledge against Maine earlier this year over the state’s trans-inclusive sports policies, attempting to revoke its federal educational funding as a result. Soon after, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) froze a $3 million federal land grant, pledging to withhold the funds until all state schools complied with Trump’s executive order pressuring schools to ban trans athletes.
However, a federal judge ordered the administration to unfreeze the funds, finding that Maine was likely to succeed in its legal challenge, and the USDA settled the lawsuit in Maine’s favor.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter warning California school districts that they’d likely face legal fallout if they didn’t ban trans athletes from competitions by June 9. By Tuesday, the California Department of Education (CDE) advised schools not to change their policies and instead allow the CDE to respond to the DOJ on the matter.
“Let’s be clear: sending a letter does not change the law,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond in a statement. “The DOJ’s letter to school districts does not announce any new federal law, and state law on this issue has remained unchanged since 2013. California state law protects all students’ access to participate in athletics in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity. We will continue to follow the law and ensure the safety of all our athletes.”
California is one of 22 states that allow trans female athletes to compete with other cis girls and women.
In a statement, Tony Hoang, executive director of the state’s leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organization Equality California, wrote, “We could not be prouder of the way this brave student-athlete conducted herself on and off the track.”
Hernandez’s cis female peers embraced her championship victories last weekend, and coaches observed the trans teen ignoring protest chants against her participation during the event.
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.