Trans athlete competes through national controversy at State Championship in Clovis

CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – After local, statewide, and national controversy and criticism, transgender athlete, 16-year-old AB Hernandez, a junior from Jurupa Valley High School, carried on, competing in the California Interscholastic Federation State Track and Field Championships at Buchanan High School starting Friday afternoon.

Hernandez pushed through the noise and set out to compete in long jump, high jump, and triple jump, an event in which she is the second seed.

It all happened with protestors on the ground outside Buchanan’s Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.

“When I saw this injustice going on and the egregious Title IX violations, I had to take a stand,” Protestor Mary Davis, who drove from San Diego, said.

A plane could be seen flying overhead at the start of the meet, with a banner saying “NO BOYS IN GIRLS’ SPORTS!” Even with that, Hernandez still proceeded with her events.

However, the road to get to this point, for Hernandez and all athletes participating, has been paved in controversy.

Thursday, Central Valley lawmakers from both the state and local levels held a press conference to call for the state to put a stop to Hernandez and other transgender athletes from participating in cisgender sports.

Even President Donald Trump threatened to pull funding from the State of California this week unless it took action.

LGBTQ+ advocates came out to the meet to both show support for Hernandez, other transgender athletes and to speak out against politicians opposing their participation.

“I got told today by someone close to me that says it’s important to witness what’s happening as an LGBTQ person,” said Stetler Brown, a Clovis resident and LGBTQ+ advocate. “You know, when people are speaking against, you know, your community, to just bear witness to that. And I think that’s kind of why I decided to raise my voice.”

Meanwhile, a coach from the Bay Area said he understands the issue, and said biological boys will always have some advantage over biological girls.

Still, he believes the entire thing has been blown out of proportion. He says to fix it, there’s an ‘easy’ solution.

“All they have to do is make another division. They’ve done it with the handicapped. It’s okay to make another division,” said Chris Pedrin, head track coach at Woodside High School. “They’re trying to make a bigger thing than it is.”