President Donald Trump has vowed to impose “large-scale fines” against California after a trans girl was allowed to compete in the state high school track-and-field meet, tying for gold.
Over the weekend, Jurupa Valley High School junior AB Hernandez shared first place in the high jump and triple jump, along with second place in the long jump. Before the meet, Trump had threatened to withhold federal funding from California if she was allowed to compete.
As a compromise, the California Interscholastic Federation came up with a last-minute rule that the athlete who finished behind Hernandez would be elevated to share her position, The New York Times reported.
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That made Hernandez a co-champion and meant she shared the podium after her wins—an outcome that wasn’t good enough for Trump.
“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so,” he raged in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. “As Governor Gavin Newscum fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!”
Last week, Trump had claimed California Governor Gavin Newsom was “ILLEGALLY” allowing “MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS” based on a February executive order the president had issued prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports.
The order doesn’t say what legal authority would give the president the power to regulate high school sports.
It cites a federal court ruling that struck down a 2024 rule from the Department of Education that would have expanded the definition of sex-based discrimination for purpose of Title IX to include LGBTQ+ athletes, but neither the court case nor Title IX bar transgender students from competing.
California passed a state law in 2013 saying students could compete in sports categories consistent with their gender identities, though few trans girls have qualified since then for the highest levels of competition.
Two years ago, two trans girls qualified for the state meet but withdrew because they were worried about their safety following relentless online harassment, the Times reported.
After the California Interscholastic Federation created its new compromise rule, some people worried it would be awkward for the athletes to share prizes, the Times reported. But after Hernandez’s second-place finish in the long jump, she and her co-silver medalist joked around, exchanged an excited double high-five, and squeezed onto the podium together.
After they received their medals, they put their arms around each other, held out the medals, and smiled for photos.
Hernadez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, said in a statement to the Times that it was her daughter’s third year competing in track and field. The other competitors have always shown Hernandez respect, her mother said.
The people harassing her child were adults, “some even in positions of power, who should be protectors of our youth.”
