Once again, President Donald Trump is threatening Gov. Gavin Newsom with fines and withholding federal funding for education Tuesday over a debate surrounding a transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High School to compete in the CIF State Track and Field meet in Clovis.
Trump posted Monday on social media that Newsom "fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed" following the CIF State meet and AB Hernandez's participating in three events.
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Hernandez, a junior on the Jurupa Valley track and field team, won the girls' triple jump and high jump and finished second in the long jump in the CIF State Championships Saturday despite protests and calls for her to not be allowed to compete because she is transgender.
Under a rule change announced on Wednesday by the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the state's governing body for high school sports, Kira Gant Hatcher from Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley was allowed to stand with Hernandez at the spot for first-place finishers on the podium. Hatcher was second in the triple jump.
The new rule awards biological female athletes the place on the podium they would have earned if not for the presence of transgender athletes.
Saint Mary's College High School also received 10 points in the team scoring, just like Jurupa Valley High School.
Hernandez was among three high jumpers to clear 5 feet, 7 inches but was declared the winner because she cleared the height on her first attempt while Jillene Wetteland, a senior at Long Beach Poly, and Lelani Laruelle, a junior at Monta Vista in Cupertino, both missed their first attempts, then cleared on their second.
Hernandez was second in the long jump behind Long Beach Wilson senior Loren Webster.
During some of Hernandez's jumps, a protester could be heard on a bullhorn from outside the Buchanan High School stadium chanting "No boys in girls' sports!" the Los Angeles Times reported.
CIF officials banned protest signs inside the facility, but outside protesters held several, including ones that read "No Child Is Born in the Wrong Body," "Trans Girls Are Boys: CIF Do Better," and "She Trains to Win. He takes the trophy?" according to The Times.
Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, praised her daughter after the events in a statement provided to The Times, saying, "As your mother, I cannot fully express how PROUD I am of you.
"Watching you rise above months of being targeted, misunderstood, and judged not by peers, but by adults who should've known better, has left me in awe of your strength," her mother said. "Despite it all, you stayed focused. You kept training, you kept showing up, and now you're bringing THE GOLD HOME!!!"
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced 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 CIF 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.
The DOJ Title IX investigation came one day after 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 the 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 Tuesday 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!!!'
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