Fri, June 13, 2025
Transgender teen athlete “tunes out” Trump’s attacks after winning gold
16-year-old transgender track and field athlete from California, AB Hernandez, has voiced that “intimidation tactics” against her will not work after facing attacks for winning two golds and a silver at a track and field meet in Clovis, California, according to The Guardian. Hernandez won gold in the high jump, gold in the triple jump and silver in the long jump state finals.
Hernandez expressed to The Guardian: “Track is everything to me. Track is my little baby. It’s crazy I can say that I’m a state champion for something I love so much. It’s an honour.”
However, Hernandez is now facing backlash from Donald Trump and anti-trans activists across America. Trump ordered local authorities to prohibit Hernandez from competing because her participation is “not fair, and totally demeaning to women and girls.”
Since being in office, Trump has rolled back protections for transgender students. His bills have attempted to censor teachers, block transgender and nonbinary students from using restrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identity, ban transgender student athletes from participating in sports, and deny transgender youth access to necessary health care. Trump has told schools in California that it was “unconstitutional” to allow Hernandez to participate, and threatened “large-scale fines” as a result. Trump has previously tried to cut Maine’s federal funding for allowing trans athletes to compete, but the state was able to block a key part of his efforts.
Even though Democratic state lawmakers in California also blocked bills that would have prohibited transgender girls from competing in girls’ sport, California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom described the inclusion of trans women in women’s sport as “deeply unfair.” However, he was heavily criticised by members of his party and by rights groups.
One reason why anti-trans rhetoric is criticised is because the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reported fewer than ten trans athletes across the U.S., and anti-trans advocates conceded themselves that they could identify even fewer transgender people at the K-12 level (kindergarten to 12th grade).
Furthermore, trans and nonbinary youth in states that have passed anti-trans laws are more likely to attempt suicide, as reported by Education Week.
In an attempt to mediate the situation, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) declared a “pilot” for updated rules. In the field events Hernandez competes in, CIF stated that cisgender girls who would have qualified for the state championship if they had not lost to a transgender athlete would still advance, and that cisgender athletes would also be awarded the highest medals even if they are beaten by a transgender athlete.
This solution may help remedy backlash from Hernandez’s competitors; however, she told The Guardian that her school community is accepting of her inclusion regardless.
Hernandez voiced: “They see how hard I train. I constantly watch [myself] on film, see what I can do better. I probably do 10 times more than any athlete at my school. They see that, and the media doesn’t. They have a lot of respect for me and I don’t get hate at my own school.”
Brooke White, who shared silver with Hernandez in the long jump, expressed to the San Francisco Chronicle: “Sharing the podium was nothing but an honour. Although the publicity she’s been receiving has been pretty negative, I believe she deserves publicity because she’s a superstar, she’s a rock star, she’s representing who she is.”
Jillene Wetteland, who shared gold with Hernandez and another competitor, stated: “I love both of the people I tied with.”
Despite this, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that adult activists who attended the event were deeply displeased and heckled Hernandez. However, Hernandez and her mother have expressed that they will not be deterred by “intimidation tactics,” and Hernandez’s success has intensified the debate surrounding the inclusion of trans athletes in state-level competition.
