California changed rules for a track-and-field meet after a trans athlete’s success. What to know

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is opening up its track-and-field championship to more girls after a transgender athlete drew controversy for qualifying for the meet.

The California Interscholastic Federation announced the temporary rule change Tuesday after high school junior AB Hernandez’s success drew backlash, including from President Donald Trump. He criticized the athlete’s participation in a social media post Tuesday, though the group said it decided on the rule change before that.

Here’s what to know:

State law lets trans athletes compete

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity.

A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team.

Federation announces rule change

The federation said it was launching a “pilot entry process” to allow more girls participate in the championship track-and-field meet.

Under the change, “any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet” could compete, the group said.

If a transgender athlete medals, their ranking would not displace a “biological female” student from medaling, the federation confirmed. In high jump, triple jump and long jump — all of the state championship events Hernandez qualified to compete in — a “biological female” who would have earned podium placement will get the medal for that place and will be reflected in the records, the federal said.

The federation did not specify how they define “biological female” or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition.

Experts from organizations including the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females.

Backlash centers on one student

Hernandez, a trans athlete in Southern California, is at the center of the debate. She won the long jump and triple jump during the division finals and is expected to perform well this weekend. She also set a triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays earlier this year.

Critics have accused her of having an unfair advantage over other athletes.

Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn’t worry about the actions of critics, who have called out her participation and heckled her at postseason meets.

“I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,” she said.

She noted that she has lost some of her events, saying that disproved arguments that she can’t be beat.

Rule change prompts criticism

The rule change may discriminate against transgender athletes, said Elana Redfield, a policy director at the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity policies.

“The CIF policy creates two sets of rules — one for transgender girls, who must earn a place through traditional measures of competition, and another for ‘biological females,’ some of whom are allowed an extra chance to earn a spot,” Redfield said in an email.

The change seems to “thread a fine needle” by trying to ensure cisgender girls aren’t denied a competition slot while still allowing trans athletes to participate, Redfield said.

Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, said the change would help ensure that “no female athlete loses a place on a team or in a competition when a trans girl is included.”

“Unlike inclusion policies that ignore sex differences, doing it this way doesn’t gaslight the other girls about their biology,” said Coleman, who has researches subjects including children, sports and law and wrote recently on the evolving definition of sex.

Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called the rule change “a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness” and said the governor thought it was a thoughtful approach. Newsom angered some liberal allies earlier this year when he questioned the fairness of transgender girls participation in girls sports.

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Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.

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Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna