XPost: alt.discrimination, alt.sport.track-field, alt.california
XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

https://ktla.com/news/ap-us-news/ap-california-track-and-field- championships-draw-limited-protest-over-trans-students-participation/

CLOVIS, Calif. (AP) — A transgender teen will compete in the California
high school track-and-field finals on Saturday, one day after advancing in
the competition as a protest plane circled about the meet that has drawn national attention, including criticism from President Donald Trump.

AB Hernandez — a trans student who on Friday advanced in the girls high
jump, long jump and triple jump — will be in the finals Saturday,
competing under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind
nationally by a high school sports governing body.

The new California Interscholastic Federation announced the new policy
earlier this week in response to Hernandez’s success. According to the
policy, the federation will let an additional student compete and medal in
the events where Hernandez qualified.

The two-day championship kicked off in the sweltering heat at high school
near Fresno. The atmosphere was relatively quiet Friday despite critics — including parents, conservative activists and Trump — calling for
Hernandez to be barred from girls competition leading up to the meet.

There was some pushback Friday. A group of fewer than 10 people gathered outside the stadium ahead of the meet to protest Hernandez’s
participation. Some of them wore “Save Girls’ Sports” T-shirts. At one
point as Hernandez was attempting a high jump, someone in the stands
yelled an insult.

An aircraft circled above the stadium for more than an hour during the
events, carrying a banner that read, “No Boys in Girls’ Sports!” Two
groups, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports and Women Are Real, that oppose transgender athletes participating in women’s sports took credit
for flying the banner.

Separately, one person was arrested outside the competition on Friday
after getting in a confrontation with another protester that turned
physical, according to the Clovis Police Department.

The rest of the night ran smoothly for Hernandez, who finished the triple
jump with a mark close to 41 feet (13 meters), nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters) ahead of her closest competitor, San Francisco Bay Area
junior Kira Gant Hatcher.

Hernandez also led in the long jump with a mark close to 20 feet (6
meters) to advance to the final. She advanced in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 5 inches (1.7 meters) with ease.

She did not address the press.

California at center of national debate
The federation’s rule change reflects efforts to find a middle ground in
the debate over trans girls’ participation in youth sports.

“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold
our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect,
and compete while complying with California law,” the group said in a
statement after announcing its rule change.

A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think
transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls
and women’s sports at the high school, college or professional level. That
view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of
Democrats.

The federation announced the rule change after Trump threatened this week
to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female
athletes from competing on girls teams. The federation said it decided on
the change before then.

The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the state federation and the district that includes Hernandez’s high school to
determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law by allowing trans girls to compete in girls sports.

Some California Republicans also weighed in, with several state lawmakers attending a news conference to criticize the federation for keeping
Hernandez in the competition and a Republican gubernatorial candidate
planning to attend Saturday’s finals.

California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports
teams consistent with their gender identity.

The federation said the rule would open the field to more “biological
female” athletes. One expert said the change may itself be discriminatory because it creates an extra spot for “biological female” athletes but not
for other trans athletes.

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

Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn’t worry about critics.

“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.

Another student breaks a record
California’s state championship stands out from that of other states
because of the number of competitors athletes are up against to qualify.
The state had the second-largest number of students participating in
outdoor track and field in the nation during the 2023-2024 school year,
behind Texas, according to a survey by the National Federation of State
High School Associations.

Olympians Marion Jones and Tara Davis-Woodhall previously set state championship records in the long jump in 1993 and 2017, respectively, both surpassing 22 feet (6.7 meters).

The boys 100-meter dash heats were also a highlight Friday. Junior Jaden Jefferson of De La Salle High School in Concord finished in 10.01 seconds, about 0.2 seconds faster than a meet record set in 2023. Jefferson’s time
won’t count as a record unless he can replicate his results in the final.


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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