Tensions are rising in California over a transgender track-and-field star poised to win multiple titles at the girls’ state championships, spurring calls for President Trump to pull federal funding unless the state takes action.
Advocates for female sports accused California of flouting Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in education, after a transgender athlete qualified for the state finals Saturday at the California Interscholastic Federation – Southern Section preliminary meet.
“If California does not align with Title IX then it is time for the administration to take action in California,” said Sophia Lorey, California Family Council outreach coordinator, in a Monday email.
The council held a press conference outside the meet at Yorba Linda High School where activists passed out “Protect Girls Sports” T-shirts and waved signs with messages such as “Hey, CIF: Girls’ Sports Are for Girls’ Only.”
Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education, said her district and three others have passed resolutions urging the Trump administration to intervene.
“We’re asking for President Trump to pull the funding. That is the truth,” said Ms. Shaw at the press event. “No money in the world is worth our girls being hurt. We have to pull the funding so girls can win. That is the truth. We’ve waited long enough.”
Inside the stadium, it was another big day for A.B. Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley High School.
The male-to-female transgender athlete took first in the triple jump; came in third in the long jump, and placed in the top nine in the high jump, qualifying for next weekend’s state finals at Moorpark High School.
During the meet, a man could be heard yelling “that’s a boy” after the athlete completed a jump, as shown on video posted on X.
On Saturday, a biological male—Ab Hernandez—eliminated three young women from their rightful shot at the state championship.
Sofia Boyd (Notre Dame High), Charlotte Nystrom (Thousand Oaks High), and Lily Kimura (South Pasadena High) were denied the chance they earned—stripped of… pic.twitter.com/iZY6APRlsa
— Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) May 12, 2025
The athlete’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, defended her child’s success ahead of the meet and discouraging female athletes from refusing to compete in protest.
“Don’t sit out. Do not sit out because you are only hurting your own chances of placing and succeeding,” said Ms. Hernandez in a post on Instagram. “What better way to respond than the same way that AB did with positive sportsmanship when she first started?”
The mother also warned competitors against wearing T-shirts with messages that could be perceived as “bullying or harassment.”
“Also, a gentle reminder,” said Ms. Hernandez. “Please be cautious on the shirts you will be wearing. They could be a potential violation of [California] education code section 200 for bullying or harassment. I wouldn’t want anyone disqualified for, you know, the negative influence from outside voices.”
Ms. Hernandez has tangled with her critics before. In February, she sent a “cease and desist” letter to Ms. Shaw, accusing her of “targeting my minor child” by engaging in “cyberbullying” on her social media platforms.
At the press conference, Ms. Shaw asked rhetorically: “Know where that document is?”
“Ripped up in the trash where it belongs,” she answered.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports, or ICONS, said that the “federal government has a legal obligation to enforce Title IX, and California is a perfect example of why.”
“If California continues to violate Title IX, pulling federal funding is not just justified; it is necessary to uphold the rights of these girls and ensure the law means something,” the organization said in a Monday statement. “AB Hernandez is hardly the first or the only male student dominating in the state of California – this is a widespread and rampant injustice that must end immediately.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened in February a Title IX investigation into the California federation’s transgender-eligibility policy, which permits students to compete based on gender identity.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in March that allowing male athletes in female sports is “deeply unfair,” but has taken no public action on the issue.
In April, a Republican-sponsored bill requiring the federation to bar male-born athletes from female sports was voted down by Assembly Democrats in committee.
A 2013 California law known as AB 1266 allows students to compete in scholastic sports based on gender identity.
