By rssfeeds-admin This discussion comes after a 16-year-old trans athlete from Jurupa Valley qualified to compete at the 105th California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Track and Field Championship on Friday, which is being held at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
Clovis Pro Tem Mayor Diane Pierce, Assemblyman David Tangipa, Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld – as well as representatives for other state officials gathered in Clovis on Thursday as part of what they called the “Rally to Save Girls Sports.”
Pierce urged the CIF to “restore the integrity of the girls’ division in athletics here in California.” She said that Clovis Unified has excellent athletic facilities and that she is proud that the city can host the State Track and Field Championships.
But Pierce said that the state legislature, the CIF, and Gov. Newsom had failed female athletes, instead calling for a focus on the student athletes’ hard work and achievements.
“But because the CIF, Governor Newsom, and the state legislature have failed our female athletes, there’s a distraction that hangs like a cloud over this weekend’s event,” Pierce said.
Pierce says that in February, President Donald Trump signed the executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, which states that educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. The order reinforces the United States’ policy “to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports.”
In response to the teenager’s participation in the championship this weekend, President Trump posted on social media, saying that he would pull large-scale federal funding if California did not adhere to his executive order.
Pierce said the executive order gave a clear direction that all athletic organizations and governing bodies should ensure that biological males were not competing against biological females. She said they saw that the NCAA was implementing the policies to collegiate sports in compliance with this direction, but did not see the CIF and the state legislature realign to the directives.
She said instead that the CIF has stated they would adhere to the state law – driving the state into this “embarrassing situation.”
After this past weekend’s qualifying meets, CIF made a change that from now on, if a transgender athlete wins, the next highest scoring cisgendered girl would also get an advance.
“I call on CIF to do the right thing, remove biological boys from girls’ sports and restore the integrity of girls’ sports,” Pierce said.
Pierce isn’t the only one who says protecting girls and restoring the integrity of girls’ sports is a priority. State Assemblymember David Tangipa also said that he and his colleagues will be looking for solutions to ensure they are protecting young girls and athletes.
Tangipa said they are working to get back to the “fundamental understanding that boys are boys and girls are girls.”
“Our young women deserve these protected spaces. Just like we said in 1972,” he said.
Tangipa cited the recent change the CIF implemented and said it was an open admission of something wrong. He said creating this change in the middle of championship weekend was a disservice to all of them.
He said that having a third championship is unfair and asked Gov. Newsom and the state legislature to prioritize action.
“We will be focusing on solutions to bring fairness to competition, to make sure all who want to compete can compete in the open division, and to make sure we are guaranteeing a spot for our girls,” Tangipa said.
As officials spoke, there was one curious member of the LGBTQ+ community who stood in the back, listening.
“I showed up as the one person, at least that I knew, was out to see what people are saying and what my elected officials are telling the media and people of the valley,” LGBTQ+ community member Stetler Brown said.
He says he’s not an expert on whether or not transgender athletes should be able to compete in girls’ sports.
He does say, though, that this kind of rally is not an effective way to bridge gaps or make change.
“I think it’s unfair to have the conversation in the way that we’re having the conversation right now,” Brown said.
As for a solution, Tangipa said he and his colleagues in the state legislature are trying to bring legislation that will bring fairness to competitions.
The 105th CIF State Track and Field Championships remain scheduled to take place this weekend.
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