A 16-year-old transgender student athlete, AB Hernandez, is competing in the California State championships this weekend despite an executive order from President Donald Trump banning such participation. This has sparked outrage among the parents of other competitors.
Hernandez, who was assigned male at birth but has since transitioned to female, has found herself in the middle of a political storm for defying the former president’s order.
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However, protests quickly sprang up in support of Hernandez, with one LGBTQ+ activist reportedly being arrested for throwing a brick through a police officer’s car.
Hernandez has faced criticism in the past. One girl who finished in second place expressed her frustration at missing out on first place, stepping onto the winner’s podium after Hernandez had left it.
While there were many protests in support of Hernandez, hundreds of other women gathered to protest against her competing against other women.
Transgender athlete AB Hernandez qualified for three events at California’s State track and field championships(Image: Getty Images)
President Trump made his stance on the issue clear, issuing an order banning transgender athletes from competing against the sex opposite their birth assignment.
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When he signed the order in the Oval Office in February, Trump made his intentions clear in a press briefing by declaring: “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.”
However, transgender rights advocate Jessica Schultz contests the order, expressing support for Hernandez during an interview with Sky News: “All girls deserve to play in girls sports and trans girls are girls. So they don’t have any extra extreme advantage than somebody who is naturally tall or has naturally wide wingspan like Michael Phelps.”
“I’m surprised that the president has time to concern himself with a high school athletic competition. but it is not surprising because he has a lot of hateful ideals”.
In the midst of controversy, Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, lamented that her daughter had become ‘the target of a national campaign of cruelty’ following Trump’s act.
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“My child has competed fairly, in full compliance with California law and athletic policy. This is her third year in sports, and she already holds THIRD PLACE IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA in the Triple Jump Category. It is not until recently that she has faced an onslaught of hatred, lies, and harassment. It is most heartbreaking that it is not her fellow competitors the ones attacking her.”
