Latest news with #AB89
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California lawmakers reject bill banning transgender athletes from playing in girls' sports
California lawmakers rejected a bill that would have banned transgender women and girl athletes from participating in girls and women's sports on Tuesday, April 1. Assembly Bill 89, introduced by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Republican who represents the state's 71st assembly district, sought to require that the California Interscholastic Federation prohibit athletes whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on girls or women's sports teams. The federation governs high school sports in California. The bill failed to pass out of the Assembly's Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee, although Democrats' supermajority in both houses of the state legislature means the bill 'had no chance of passing,' SF Gate reported. 'This year, we've seen a number of bills that are particularly targeting to spotlight, target and repeal the rights of transgender individuals and standards that have been in some place for some time without much notice until recent,' said Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward, committee chair and a Democrat. 'This bill, AB 89, is one of those bills.' However, Sanchez — who said the bill was not a ban — described it as protecting the health and wellbeing of women and girls. 'Let's be clear. It is not about hate. It is not about fear. And it's not right-wing talking points,' Sanchez said. 'This is entirely about fairness, safety and integrity in girls competitive high school athletics. Sanchez pointed toward Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent comments on transgender women and girls competing in women's and girl's sports. During a conversation with conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk, Newsom said he thought the issue of fairness on the topic is 'legit,' sparking criticism among party members and LGBTQ+ advocate organizations. Dozens of people demonstrated both support and opposition of the bill during public comment, and some assemblymembers cited concerns over the potential harm this bill would have to transgender children — who face higher rates of suicide and suicidal thoughts, USA TODAY reported — as well as the lack of clear data that suggests transgender female athletes are causing harm, either physically or by taking away opportunities, to their cisgender female peers. The blockage of this bill comes nearly two months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender women and girls from playing women's sports, USA TODAY reported. Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@ Assembly Bill 89, introduced by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Republican who represents the state's 71st assembly district, sought to require that the California Interscholastic Federation prohibit athletes whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on girls or women's sports teams. The federation governs high school sports in California. The bill failed to pass out of the Assembly's Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee, although Democrats' supermajority in both houses of the state legislature means the bill 'had no chance of passing,' SF Gate reported. 'This year, we've seen a number of bills that are particularly targeting to spotlight, target and repeal the rights of transgender individuals and standards that have been in some place for some time without much notice until recent,' said Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward, committee chair and a Democrat. 'This bill, AB 89, is one of those bills.' However, Sanchez — who said the bill was not a ban — described it as protecting the health and wellbeing of girls. 'Let's be clear. It is not about hate. It is not about fear. And it's not right-wing talking points,' Sanchez said. 'This is entirely about fairness, safety and integrity in girls competitive high school athletics. Sanchez pointed toward Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent comments on transgender athletes competing in women's sports while describing those who are in support of the bill. During a conversation with conservative activist and media personality Charlie Kirk, Newsom said he thought the issue of fairness on the topic is 'legit,' sparking criticism among party members and LGBTQ+ advocate organizations. Dozens of people demonstrated both support and opposition of the bill during public comment, and some assemblymembers cited concerns over the potential harm this bill would have to transgender children — who face higher rates of suicide and suicidal thoughts, USA TODAY reported — as well as the lack of clear data that suggests transgender female athletes are causing harm, either physically or by taking away opportunities, to their cisgender female peers. The blockage of this bill comes nearly two months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender women and girls from playing women's sports, USA TODAY reported. Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@ This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California bill banning transgender girls from girls' sports fails
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California legislators reject two bills banning transgender women in female sports
The Brief Both AB 89 & 844 failed in committee in the California Legislature. Gov. Newsom recently said trans women in female sports is 'unfair'. Proponents vow to continue fighting to keep trans women out of female sports. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Two bills that would've banned transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports were rejected on Tuesday in the state legislature. With Democrats holding the majority, both bills failed as committee members voted along party lines. A local political analyst says this vote not only clarified how most voters in California feel, but it was also a message to President Trump about his agenda. "This was framed, very much, as something being done in opposition to the Trump Dept. of Education," said Melissa Michelson, Menlo College Political Science professor. After Assembly Bills 89 and 844 were defeated on Tuesday, political analyst Melissa Michelson says Democrats are pushing back on President Trump's educational agenda, which they say would abandon transgender rights, even with the threat of losing federal funding. "For Democrats, they just see this as a win. They can position themselves as the party of opposition, blocking the Trump agenda. Also, being in community with transgender people," said Michelson. What they're saying "In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted and barred from public life," said Rick Chavez Zbur, Democratric Assembly member from Los Angeles. Tuesday morning in Sacramento, legislators debated the issue and listened to testimony for hours before taking a vote. Sophia Lorey, a spokesperson for the California Family Council, testified during the hearing and sent KTVU this statement, saying in part: "Today, they didn't just kill a bill. They sent a message to every female athlete that her safety, privacy and fairness don't matter," said Lorey. Gov. Newsom also recently called having trans women in female sports 'deeply unfair' while on a podcast. Still, advocates for the gay and trans community believe the bills are a deflection from the issues Californians care most about. "Dealing with rising healthcare costs, dealing with public safety concerns. Instead, they're focusing on a statistically tiny number of students who just want to play sports alongside their teammates, just like any other kid would," said Tom Temprano, Managing Director for Equality California. What's next The California Family Council says this fight isn't over. They plan to support another bill for girls' rights in sports authored by Assembly member Shannon Grove and do what they can to get it to the Senate floor for a vote this year. The Source Equality CA, CA Family Council, LegiScan, KCRA, previous KTVU reporting
Fox News
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California Dem compares 'Save Girls Sports' law to Nazi Germany, as two trans athlete ban bills fail to pass
The California state legislature failed to pass two separate bills aimed at protecting girls sports from trans inclusion on Tuesday. During debate for one of the bills, a Democratic state lawmaker compared the proposals to practices employed by Nazi Germany in the holocaust. California assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur made the comparison while arguing against the first bill, AB 89. "This is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life," Zbur said. Zbur was then interrupted by mediators who protested his comparison and argued it was out of order. But Zbur continued his analogy. "This is about this, this is about this bill," Zbur argued. "They were barred from public life. They were detransitioned. They were imprisoned and killed in concentration camps. And the way it started was the same kind of things that are happening in this country by the Trump administration." California Republican assembly member Kate Sanchez, who proposed AB 89, said she heard audible gasps in the assembly chamber during Zbur's argument, and that one attendee had to excuse herself from the room. "There was a lot of gasps and shock," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. "It was very tone-deaf. We had a mother who had been in the holocaust itself, so she had to leave the committee hearing because it was so offensive to hear… she stood up and left because she was just so uncomfortable with the situation." Multiple Democrat residents, including a member of the LGBTQ community, appeared on the assembly floor Tuesday to advocate in support of the bill. But AB 89 was ultimately struck down by the Democratic majority. However, it will be allowed for reconsideration at a later date. "I am just so disgusted that my Democrat colleagues were unable to stand for the protection of women and girls," Sanchez said. "Not only are they ignoring the will of the people… they're ignoring the everyday mom, dad, girl in sports. They are ignoring their wants. Democrat assembly member Avalino Valencia was absent from Tuesday's vote. Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas inserted himself in the committee to vote in Valencia's absence. Valencia's office has not responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Just moments after Democrats struck down Sanchez's bill, the committee voted on AB 844, which would also ban trans athletes from girls sports and was proposed by California Republican assembly member Bill Essayli. Debate for Essayli's bill featured testimony from conservative activist and filmmaker Matt Walsh. And like Sanchez's bill, Essayli's was also struck down by the Democrat majority. Essayli told Fox News Digital that he believes the Democrat's resistance to the two bills was intended to send a message to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom prompted backlash from those in his own party with comments on his podcast last month, expressing his belief that trans athletes in girls sports was "deeply unfair," but defended allowing it anyway. "I think there really is a civil war here brewing within the Democrat Party on how to address these issues. You have the governor going in one direction, and I think what you saw today with the leadership in the legislature, which tends to be even more radical and progressive than the governor, taking a completely different approach. And I think they wanted to send a message to the governor that they're not budging on this issue," Essayli said. "Today they wanted to send a message to their progressive, extremist base that they're not abandoning them." The Democratic majority prevented both bills from passing just days after President Donald Trump's Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a formal warning to Newsom and the rest of the state, suggesting federal funding may be cut to the state if it continues to enable trans inclusion in girls sports. "Allowing participation in sex-separated activities based on 'gender identity' places schools at risk of Title IX violations and loss of federal funding. As Governor, you have a duty to inform California school districts of this risk," McMahon wrote in the letter. "As Secretary of Education, I am officially asking you to inform this Department whether you will remind schools in California to comply with federal law by protecting sex-separated spaces and activities. I am also officially asking you to publicly assure parents that California teachers will not facilitate the fantasy of 'gender transitions' for their children." The state's high school sports association, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), is currently under federal investigation for potential Title IX violations after several controversial incidents involving trans athletes occurred over the last year. The CIF was one of the first state athletic associations to announce it would continue allowing trans athletes to compete with girls after Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5. The CIF stated an 11-year-old state law, AB 1266, which has been in effect since 2014 and gives trans athletes the right to participate in the gender category based on gender identity and not birth sex, for its non-compliance. Both Sanchez and Essayli told Fox News Digital they expect the Trump administration to amplify its pressure on the state and potentially cut funding in order to enforce the executive order after their bills failed to pass Tuesday. "I think a lot will come down the pipe over the next week or so," Sanchez said. "There will be a lot of development from what I've been told." Essayli envisions a situation playing out in California similar to the one that has been playing out in Maine over the last month, as a public feud between Trump and Gov. Janet Mills has resulted in a hostile back-and-forth between the state and federal agencies over the issue of trans inclusion. "None of us really went in thinking the Democrats in the legislature were going to change their position on this today, but what we wanted to do is make a clear record, make our arguments and show the world where they stand, where the Democrats stand on this, expose their position on this," Essayli said. "And I think we accomplished that." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California lawmaker warns Democrats of consequences for not protecting girls' sports from trans athletes
The California state legislature will vote on a bill that would ban biological males from girls' sports in the state, as the state is currently one of the nation's biggest hotbeds for controversial incidents involving trans athletes. The state's high school sports association, the California Interscholastic Federation, is currently under federal investigation for potential Title IX violations after several controversial incidents involving trans athletes occurred over the last year. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said in an episode of his podcast that he believes trans athletes competing in girls' sports is "deeply unfair" but defended policies that enable it for the sake of sensitivity to the emotions of trans people. On Thursday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a formal warning to Newsom and the rest of the state, suggesting federal funding may be cut to the state if it continues to enable trans inclusion in girls' sports. California Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez, who proposed the state bill to address the issue, AB 89, warned Democrats of the potential repercussions if they block this bill, both to the state's residents and to their party's reputation. "They need to be very thoughtful because, obviously, President Trump is a man of his word, so to lose this funding, is that really what they want to do?" Sanchez asked. "This is a fight I'm not sure the Newsom administration really wants to take on, and if they do, President Trump has shown he is really strong." Sanchez believes the state cannot afford to risk any federal funding over an issue that affects such a small population. "There's so many school districts that would be in absolute distress. I really hope it doesn't get to that point. I hope we can come to a resolution and find common ground on this because we really need to get back to the basics. I grew up in California. We are hurting. There are so many other issues, pocket book issues, that we should be focused on." In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records." The law and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone. In Riverside, California, two girls on the cross-country team at Martin Luther King High School have filed a lawsuit against their school and California Attorney General Rob Bonta over a situation involving a trans athlete on the team. The lawsuit claims the trans athlete took a varsity spot from a female runner and that when the girls wore "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts in protest, school administrators compared them to swastikas. The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told "transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]" by school administrators when they protested the athlete's participation. The neighboring Jurupa Unified School District has been dealing with a recent national controversy involving a trans track and field athlete at Jurupa Valley High School (JUVHS) who has dominated female opponents by staggering margins in the triple jump this season. Jaspriya Singh, a former JUVHS athlete and sister to a current athlete on the girls cross-country team, laments the situation Newsom has allowed. Back in the fall, Stone Ridge Christian High School's girls' volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament, but they forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team. Sanchez said she has talked with dozens of voters in her state who identify as Democrats, but the issue has become so overwhelming that it is pushing those voters away from the party. Sanchez added it is becoming especially more common among the state's Hispanic voters. "Our Hispanic communities, so many of them in the state have called our office and asked 'please, please keep pushing this bill,'" Sanchez said. "The Hispanic community very much is a family-oriented, hard-working, thoughtful community that just wants to provide opportunity and safety to their family, and to their children and grandchildren. So we've gotten a lot of conversations up and down the state of them saying 'what is going on? This is not at all what I want. Of course, I want our girls protected, allow them to be in safe spaces where they feel like they can thrive and are not worried about their physical safety or having to change in front of a man." Sanchez's bill is one of two bills to block trans athletes from competing in girls' sports that will be voted on on Tuesday. A second bill to address the same issue, AB 844, will also get a vote. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
