Clovis, California – Overcoming the enormous pressure from President Trump, dozens of local protesters and other critics of transgender athletes in the women's sports, AB Hernandez, 16, won many peers Saturday in California's high school track and field championships to win multiple gold medals.
A trans junior from Yurupa Valley High School (although Trump’s instructions were banned), she won the state championship in the women’s triple jump and girls’ high jump competitions and finished second in the girls’ high jump.
Hernandez was successful at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships in Clovis, which is high temperatures – over 100 degrees most of the day) and in a strong spotlight.
Earlier this week, Trump said on social media that he “ordered local authorities when necessary to avoid allowing” Hernandez to compete, falsely accusing her of winning “everything” in her previous meeting and calling her “actually unparalleled.” Protesters gathered outside meetings Friday and Saturday, condemning her inclusion and LGBTQ+ friendly state laws allow.
Still, Hernandez was outstanding and focused in the game. She waved to the crowd as her name declared a long jump. She smiled when she announced a high jump.
Hernandez beat all other competitors in the triple jump, although the runner-up also finished first in the new rules set by the Inter-California Inter-School Federation after Trump issued a threat.
Hernandez tied with two other girls in high jump, three of whom cleared the same height and shared the gold.
“As your mother, I cannot fully express my pride in you,” said Nereyda Hernandez, her mother, in a statement to the Times.
“Watching you for months away, not being misunderstood and judged by a peer, but being judged by an adult who should be more aware of, makes me in awe of your strength.” “Nevertheless, you remain focused. You continue to train, keep showing up, and now you are bringing gold home!!!
A protester can be heard from the horns outside the Buchanan High School Stadium chanting “No girl in sports!” Inter-California Federation officials banned signs of protests inside the facility, but outside protesters held a series of protests – including those that read “No kids were born in the wrong body,” “Transex girls are boys: CIFs do better,” “She trains to win. He won the trophy? ”
Josh Fulfer, a 46-year-old father and conservative online influencer who lives near the stadium, said he was a protester of the horns. He said Hernandez should not be in the competition – no matter how she played – because her presence in the competition has a negative “psychological impact” on her Cisgender competitors.
“I stick to the truth,” he said. “Male should not pretend to be women, they should not compete with female athletes.”
Loren Webster, a senior at Wilson High School in Long Beach, beat Hernandez in the long jump, said she didn't give Hernandez too much thought—instead, she focused on her performance.
“It's not someone else I'm worried about. I know my abilities,” Webster said. “I can't control what I can't control.”
A child holds a protest sign with his family and others against trans athlete AB Hernandez for the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at the Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
During the two-day matches Friday and Saturday, strong attention to Hernandez reflects a widespread increase in anger at transgender girls in sporting events across the country, although they represent a small percentage of their competitors. It also reflects the unanimous efforts of Trump and other prominent conservative figures to single out Hernandez as an uninformed poster kid.
Recent polls, including a poll from the Times last year, show that many Americans support trans rights, but most oppose trans girls who participate in the youth movement. California has long defended trans children and their rights to participate in youth track and field, but other states increasingly restrict or remove such rights.
Marci Strange was arguing that they held the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships trans athlete AB Hernandez at the Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis as protesters protested.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
Trump first caught the trans issue during his presidential campaign, spending millions of dollars on anti-trans political ads. Since his election, he has issued a wave of executive orders and other policies aimed at retreating trans rights and protection.
Hernandez was picked out in the discussion time and time again.
Earlier this week, Trump mentioned Hernandez in a social media post, saying his administration would cut federal funds to California if she was not blocked from participating in the state final this weekend and would be more widely aligned with his executive order to ban transgender people from participating in national school athletics.
The next day, U.S. Department of Justice officials mentioned Hernandez again, announcing an investigation into California, the Interschool Athletic Federation and the Julupa Unified School District to allow transgender students like Hernandez to compete in sports, thus violating the civil rights of cisgender Girls.
Trans-sex athlete AB Hernandez competed in Jurupa Valley High School in the high jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Clovis Buchanan High School.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
At gatherings on Friday and Saturday, Hernandez often blended with hundreds of other athletes, attracting little attention. So far, she is not as condemned by protesters at that time for participating in the competition.
Hernandez's mother begged Trump and other adults to express sympathy to her daughter in recent days, calling it heartbreaking: “Every time I see my children being attacked, not to do something wrong, but just because they are their own identities.”
She said her daughter was “not a threat” and that the harassment against her was “not only cruel, it was dangerous.”
Local protesters – some have ties to national conservative groups – competed Hernandez in a noticeably different way to the girls' competition.
Before being escorted by police, Sophia Lorey, the outreach director of the conservative California Family Council, wore a hat and read “Only Women’s Sports, Only Women” at the stadium on Saturday. She told the crowd members that Hernandez was a boy and distributed pink “Save Women's Sports” bracelets and flyers that directed people to an online petition calling on the California Interscholastic Federation to change its policy to a competitive trans athlete.
Trump administration officials have taken a similar stance.
Assistant Atty in a letter to Ronald W. Nocetti, executive director of the Federation of Presidents on Wednesday. General Harmeet Dhillon, who appointed the Justice Department's civil rights department director, called Hernandez's success in recent track and field competitions “shocking”. She said the California policy that allowed Hernandez to compete might have violated Chapter IX, a federal civil rights law of 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in education programs and other activities that receive federal funding.
Dhillon also noted that Gavin Newsom's recent speech to conservative activist Charlie Kirk said trans girls participating in the movement were “very unfair.”
Trans-sex athlete AB Hernandez competes in three events including high jump, triple jump and long jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at the Buchanan High School in Clovis.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
The sentence was in a conversation on Newsom’s podcast in March, which also featured Hernandez.
Kirk, co-founder of the Conservative Organization Turning Point, asked Newsom if he would express his opposition to Hernandez's participation in women's track and field competitions. Newsom said he agreed that the situation was “unfair”, but he also had no doubt about the “ways people talk to vulnerable communities”, including trans people.
When Kirk suggests Newsom can say he has a “heart” towards Hernandez but still thinks her competition is unfair, Newsom says again that he agrees.
Newsom has not made any statement since then. But, since Trump began talking about Hernandez, the sports field for trans athletes has changed in California.
On Wednesday, CIF announced changes to the rules of this weekend's championship. Under the new rules, a qualified girl who qualifies for the finals of the competition from a trans athlete will still advance to the finals. In addition, if a trans athlete does not compete, anyone beaten by a trans competitor will be awarded any medal she could have claimed, the Federation said.
Trans-sex athlete AB Hernandez competed in Jurupa Valley High School in the high jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at Clovis Buchanan High School.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
CIF did not mention Hernandez when announcing its policy changes, but it did mention directly the high jump, triple jump and long jump – which are three games she's going to compete in.
Under the new rules, Hernandez shared her position on the podium of each event with other girls.
The CIF did not respond to a list of questions about its new policy. A spokesperson for Newsom praised the change, but others were not impressed.
Critics of trans athletes rejected it because it was insufficient to demand a total ban on trans athletes. Protester Fulfer on Bullhorn said the CIF “accepted they had made mistakes for a long time” while still not doing enough to fix it – and Trump would see it clearly.
“I hope Donald Trump will see what happened this weekend, and I hope he will withdraw funds from California,” Fuller said.
LGBTQ+ advocates also criticized the change in the rules, but for different reasons, calling it a clumsy surrender, picking out a teenager to appease a bunch of bullies and picking out a political struggle.
“The fact that these same political actors continue to bully and harass a child even after CIF changed its policies suggests that it has nothing to do with sports or fairness,” said Kristi Hirst, co-founder of our American School Public Education Advocacy.
“It’s just about using children while also damaging their personal safety to distract political points and distract from serious issues in the country,” Hurst said. “It’s actually focusing on the families and communities in this country.”
Trans-sex athlete AB Hernandez competes with Jurupa Valley High School in the long jump at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships at CLOVIS Buchanan High School.
(Tomas Ovalle/Times)
Nereyda Hernandez said she hopes AB’s victory can be inspiration for other children who feel “invisible”.
“For every young person watching, especially those who feel invisible or unheard of, let AB remind you of authenticity, courage and resilience brighter than hatred,” she said. “It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it.”
