Trump administration, high school athletes file lawsuits against California, Oregon over transgender, girls rights

More than a month after biological boys win girls state track and field titles, West Coast states face federal suits; Supreme Court ruling appears imminent

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez (left on top stand) and Kira Gant Hatcher were among the winners at the California (CIF) State Championships at Buchanan High School in Clovis on May 31. California is one of at least two states this week being litigated for its transgender policies that have been followed by state high school sports governing bodies. / Photo by Mitch Stephens

The rights of transgender and female high school athletes have made national news again this week with federal lawsuits filed in California and Oregon. 

According to OregonLive, three track and field athletes filed a federal lawsuit hoping to wipe out all records set by transgender athletes in Oregon. In addition, they seek to ban them from all future competitions in girls sports. 

This came the same week, the Trump administration, as promised, sued the California Department of Education for letting transgender athletes compete in girls sports. On June 26, the same administration gave California and the state’s governing agency for high school sports — the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) — 10 days to rescind awards given transgender athletes, specifically AB Hernandez, who won two girls state track and field titles and took second in May. 

The Oregon suit named Gov. Tina Kotek and the Oregon School Activities Association — the state’s overseer for high school athletic events — as defendants. It also targeted three school districts where many of the transgender compete, which forced the three plaintiffs to withdraw from competition during the 2024-24 season, the suit claims.  

Both the CIF and OSAA have simply sided with its state laws which allow athletes to student-athletes to participate on any team that corresponds to their gender identity. 

The Trump administration counters that both states are breaking federal laws, violating Title IX, which bans discrimination in education based on sex. The lawsuit against California states that its rules “are not only illegal and unfair but also demeaning, signaling to girls that their opportunities and achievements are secondary to accommodating boys.”

In February, Trump signed an executive order to bar trans girls and women from participating on sports teams aligning with their gender identity. 

Oregon and California are two states sticking to more than decade-old laws allowing transgender athletes to compete with their identity. At least two dozen states have laws barring transgender girls from participating in some competitions. 

By all indications, this will all be settled by the Supreme Court, which often makes final rulings in June or July when the Court recesses for the summer.  

AB HERNANDEZ BACKGROUND

If that’s the case, we could have another season of scrutiny and protests against Hernandez, who in May came under a national spotlight while winning league, section and eventually state girls titles in the high jump and triple jump, while taking second in the long jump. 

Hernandez, a biological boy, took third at state in the girls triple jump as a sophomore with little to no public knowledge or attention. 

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley took two first and one second at the 105th CIF State Championships on May 31 in Clovis. / Photo by Eric Taylor

That was much different in May, as national media flocked to Buchanan High School in Clovis to watch the Jurupa Valley junior compete only days after Trump tweeted for Hernandez to be banned from the meet: "I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!!"

The CIF had already made adjustments to award duplicate medals for any participant where Hernandez finished. It created crowded podiums, but the athletes adjusted seamlessly. 

Despite loud protesters outside of the stadium chanting “no boys in girls sports,” Hernandez finaled in all three events, sharing the first-place podium in the high jump with Lelani Laruelle of Monta Vista and Jillene Wetteland of Long Beach Poly. All cleared 5 feet, 7 inches. 

A plane trails a sign that reads "NO BOYS IN GIRLS' SPORTS!" over Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif. where the CIF State track and field championships were held. This act was prompted by the participation of transgender athlete AB Hernandez in girls' events. / Bobby Medellin

In the triple jump, Hernandez had the longest mark at 42 feet, 2.75 inches, but shared the first-place podium with Kira Grant Hatcher of St. Mary's (40 feet, 5 inches).

"She's super nice," said Grant Hatcher when asked about sharing the podium with Hernandez. "We see the same people at all the meets, so you form friendships."

In the long jump — won by Long Beach Wilson's Loren Webster (21 inches, 0¼) — Hernandez (20-8¾) shared the second-place finish with River City's Brooke White, who told the San Francisco Chronicle that other athletes "all have her back. ... It’s emotional, it gets people heated from all sides of the argument. But when I got here and I talked to AB Hernandez … I learned to knock out all of the negativity. ... The negativity: It affects us, too.”

Hatcher’s coach Jeff Rogers, concerned the day before how the podium configuration might work with multiple athletes, said after the competition: “This is definitely an adult problem, super complex and textured,” he said. “But somehow kids seem to cut through all of it and find their own way to deal and manage.”

OREGON LAWSUIT

According to Oregon Live, one of the plaintiffs, Forest Grove recent graduate Madelyn Eischen, said she withdrew from the high jump in an April 18 meet due to competition against a transgender athlete. 

“I definitely do not hate any trans athletes,” she told the newspaper. “I just think I'm asking for fairness and protection.” 

A transgender athlete, Ada Gallagher, who won Oregon's 6A 200-meter state title, told the Oregonian that she’s just looking for protection. Gallagher and her mother are likely going to move to Canada because it will be safer there to compete. 

Neither the CIF or OSAA have commented on the lawsuits, but keep repeating commitments to state laws. So did Erica Wilhelm, a spokesperson for the Newberg-Dundee Public Schools, who told the Oregonian: “We remain committed to staying in compliance and to ensuring that all students are supported in a safe and respectful learning environment.”

ONGOING ISSUE

Transgender issue in high school sports on the West Coast, particularly in track and field, aren't new.

• In May of 2023, track runners Lorelei Barrett of Sherman Oaks Buckley and Athena Ryan of Santa Rosa Sonoma Academy — two transgender student-athletes — finished third and second in their respective running events to qualify for the CIF state finals.

However, leading up the finals, the two athletes faced backlash and decided to not compete in the CIF state finals.

• In May of 2024, Washington state runner Veronica Garcia, an openly transgender runner, won the state 400-meter 2A title and was reportedly booed at the starting line. She won the finals at Mount Tahoma High School in 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner (56.75). Garcia, now a senior at East Valley, is expected to repeat that title this week. "I'm just a teenager," Garcia told the Spokesman-Review. "I wish people would remember that."

• This past fall, a Northern California girls volleyball team from Stone Ridge Christian of Merced cut its own season short before the Division 6 semifinals due to the belief its opponent — San Francisco Waldorf — had a transgender player on its roster.

Stone Ridge Christian administrator Julie Fagundes announced the Knights would end their season, notifying the families of the private school of 448 (K-12): “We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message. We also have a duty and responsibility to care for the health and safety of our athletes ... " (MORE ON THAT STORY)

• The same San Francisco Waldorf player, as reported by the San Francisco Standard, was on the school's girls basketball team, which reached the North Coast Section Division 6 semifinals against Cornerstone Christian of Antioch. Cornerstone Christian superintendent and pastor Steve Miner along with principal, Logan Heyer, considered, like Stone Ridge Christian, to forfeit the game but instead played the home game, first releasing this statement:

"As a school, we are committed to upholding biblical principles in all our decisions and actions. While we may not agree with or support the transgender movement, we firmly believe in the bibical call to love our neighbors as ourselves, as instructed in Matthew 22:39. This principle guides us to extend compassion, respect and grace to all individuals, regardless of their beliefs or identities."

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