Latest news with #transgenderathletes
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Girls' track and field athletes don't stand on podium next to trans athlete at Oregon state championship
A pair of girls' track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed the two high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School, step down from their respective spots on the podium next to a trans athlete who represented Ida B. Wells High School. Eckard, in fourth place, and Anderson, in third, each finished ahead of the trans athlete, who tied for fifth place. But the two females faced the opposite direction as the other competitors received their medals from officials. The footage then showed an official confront the two young women, and gesture for them to move away. Eckard and Anderson were then seen walking away from the podium and standing off to the side. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for a response. The trans athlete previously competed in the boys' category in 2023 and 2024, Fox News Digital previously reported. Eckard and Anderson were praised for not standing on the podium on social media, and were even shouted out by prominent conservative activist Riley Gaines. Girls and women making symbolic gestures to protest trans inclusion in sports has become a growing trend in 2025. On May 17 at a California track and field sectional final, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School stepped from the second-place spot onto the first-place medal podium after her trans opponent, AB Hernandez stepped down from it. Hogan's stunt was lauded on social media by Gaines and others. On April 2, footage of women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition in Maryland, and subsequently getting punished for it, went viral and ignited global awareness and scrutiny against USA Fencing. Oregon is one of many Democratic-controlled states that saw transgender athletes compete in girls' track and field championships this weekend, with other highly-publicized incidents taking place in California, Washington, Maine and Minnesota. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonpartisan research institute, filed a Title IX discrimination complaint against Oregon for its laws that allow biological males to compete in girls' sports on May 27. The complaint was filed to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which has already launched Title IX investigations against the high school sports leagues in California, Minnesota, Maine and Massachusetts. "Every girl deserves a fair shot – on the field, on the podium, and in life," said Jessica Hart Steinmann, AFPI's executive general counsel and vice chair of the Center for Litigation, in a statement. "When state institutions knowingly force young women to compete against biological males, they're violating federal law and sending a devastating message to female athletes across the country." President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5 and his administration has made combating the continued enabling of trans athletes in girls' sports by Democratic states a priority. The U.S. Department of Justice has already launched a lawsuit against Maine for its defiance of Trump's executive order, and the president suggested on Tuesday that federal funding pauses could be coming against California amid the situation involving Hernandez. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
California changed rules for a track-and-field meet after a trans athlete's success. What to know
California is opening up its track-and-field championship to more girls after a transgender athlete drew controversy for qualifying for the meet. The California Interscholastic Federation announced the temporary rule change Tuesday after high school junior AB Hernandez's success drew backlash, including from President Donald Trump. He criticized the athlete's participation in a social media post Tuesday, though the group said it decided on the rule change before that. Here's what to know: State law lets trans athletes compete Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team. Federation announces rule change The federation said it was launching a 'pilot entry process' to allow more girls participate in the championship track-and-field meet. Under the change, 'any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section's automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet' could compete, the group said. If a transgender athlete medals, their ranking would not displace a 'biological female' student from medaling, the federation confirmed. In high jump, triple jump and long jump — all of the state championship events Hernandez qualified to compete in — a 'biological female' who would have earned podium placement will get the medal for that place and will be reflected in the records, the federal said. The federation did not specify how they define 'biological female" or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition. Experts from organizations including the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females. Backlash centers on one student Hernandez, a trans athlete in Southern California, is at the center of the debate. She won the long jump and triple jump during the division finals and is expected to perform well this weekend. She also set a triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays earlier this year. Critics have accused her of having an unfair advantage over other athletes. Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn't worry about the actions of critics, who have called out her participation and heckled her at postseason meets. 'I'm still a child, you're an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,' she said. She noted that she has lost some of her events, saying that disproved arguments that she can't be beat. Rule change prompts criticism The rule change may discriminate against transgender athletes, said Elana Redfield, a policy director at the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity policies. 'The CIF policy creates two sets of rules — one for transgender girls, who must earn a place through traditional measures of competition, and another for 'biological females,' some of whom are allowed an extra chance to earn a spot,' Redfield said in an email. The change seems to 'thread a fine needle' by trying to ensure cisgender girls aren't denied a competition slot while still allowing trans athletes to participate, Redfield said. Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, said the change would help ensure that 'no female athlete loses a place on a team or in a competition when a trans girl is included.' 'Unlike inclusion policies that ignore sex differences, doing it this way doesn't gaslight the other girls about their biology,' said Coleman, who has researches subjects including children, sports and law and wrote recently on the evolving definition of sex. Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called the rule change 'a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness' and said the governor thought it was a thoughtful approach. Newsom angered some liberal allies earlier this year when he questioned the fairness of transgender girls participation in girls sports. ___ Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed. ___
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
California changed rules for a track-and-field meet after a trans athlete's success. What to know
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is opening up its track-and-field championship to more girls after a transgender athlete drew controversy for qualifying for the meet. The California Interscholastic Federation announced the temporary rule change Tuesday after high school junior AB Hernandez's success drew backlash, including from President Donald Trump. He criticized the athlete's participation in a social media post Tuesday, though the group said it decided on the rule change before that. Here's what to know: State law lets trans athletes compete Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team. Federation announces rule change The federation said it was launching a 'pilot entry process' to allow more girls participate in the championship track-and-field meet. Under the change, 'any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section's automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet' could compete, the group said. If a transgender athlete medals, their ranking would not displace a 'biological female' student from medaling, the federation confirmed. In high jump, triple jump and long jump — all of the state championship events Hernandez qualified to compete in — a 'biological female' who would have earned podium placement will get the medal for that place and will be reflected in the records, the federal said. The federation did not specify how they define 'biological female' or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition. Experts from organizations including the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females. Backlash centers on one student Hernandez, a trans athlete in Southern California, is at the center of the debate. She won the long jump and triple jump during the division finals and is expected to perform well this weekend. She also set a triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays earlier this year. Critics have accused her of having an unfair advantage over other athletes. Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn't worry about the actions of critics, who have called out her participation and heckled her at postseason meets. 'I'm still a child, you're an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,' she said. She noted that she has lost some of her events, saying that disproved arguments that she can't be beat. Rule change prompts criticism The rule change may discriminate against transgender athletes, said Elana Redfield, a policy director at the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity policies. 'The CIF policy creates two sets of rules — one for transgender girls, who must earn a place through traditional measures of competition, and another for 'biological females,' some of whom are allowed an extra chance to earn a spot,' Redfield said in an email. The change seems to 'thread a fine needle' by trying to ensure cisgender girls aren't denied a competition slot while still allowing trans athletes to participate, Redfield said. Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, said the change would help ensure that 'no female athlete loses a place on a team or in a competition when a trans girl is included.' 'Unlike inclusion policies that ignore sex differences, doing it this way doesn't gaslight the other girls about their biology,' said Coleman, who has researches subjects including children, sports and law and wrote recently on the evolving definition of sex. Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called the rule change 'a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness' and said the governor thought it was a thoughtful approach. Newsom angered some liberal allies earlier this year when he questioned the fairness of transgender girls participation in girls sports. ___ Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed. ___ Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Prominent women's rights activist breaks her silence after two transgender netballers were BANNED by a local league in Australia
A women's rights activist has spoken of her delight after two transgender athletes were banned from competing in a local netball league in Victoria. Australian businesswoman Sall Grover - who founded a women's only social media app called Giggle For Girls - says she is also hopeful that the decision might pave the way for other sporting bodies to follow suit. Earlier on Wednesday, it was revealed that two transgender netball players were being banned from competing in Victoria's Riddell District Netball Football League for the 2025 season. The athletes had been playing for Melton Central against Melton Souths, but over the weekend, footage emerged showing one of the Central players, Manawa Aranui, appearing to send an opponent crashing to the floor of the court. The play was legal and Aranui had offered to help her rival player back to her feet. Some players of the Melton Souths contingent have subsequently threatened to boycott matches against Melton Central over safety concerns on their decision to name two transgender players in their squad. Grover, meanwhile, had previously called for the exclusion of both Central netball players, but upon learning that both had subsequently been handed bans, the Australian said the decision was 'very satisfying'. 'I am incredibly happy that there has been one sport in Australia who has acknowledged the relevance of female sport,' Grover told Daily Mail Australia. 'I'm very, very happy because - and for it to be netball is also very good - netball is traditionally a female-led sport and it appears that they've looked at the law and gone, oh yeah, turn on, we can ban these men and there's nothing they can do about it. That is very satisfying.' The subject of transgender athletes has been a hotly debated topic in recent years, with multiple sporting bodies, from World Athletics to World Netball, prohibiting trans players from competing in top-level events. When pressed on why she believes it is important to stop transgender athletes from comopeting in female events, Grover said: 'It exists so women have safety and fairness. 'I mean, there's a reason why women aren't going out there and demanding to be part of - the example I always use - Can you imagine a woman on a rugby union field? I mean, she'd be killed. If they played at their full capacity, she's dead. 'Or then she changes the entire match because they don't play at their full capacity. And so it's this boring match where everyone watching players tiptoe around because there's a woman on the field. 'It changes the entire game. It just is what it is. We watch these matches to watch the most extreme fitness of bodies in play like right now.' Victoria's Riddell District Netball Football League released a statement on Wednesday on the bans, revealing they had made the decision to impose suspensions on the two players in relation to Section 42 of the Sex Discrimination Act. The statement read: 'After lengthy consideration and consultation, the RDFNL has ruled that the two transgender participants be excluded from the RDFNL Netball Competitions for the remainder of the 2025 season on the premise that both participants exhibit superior, stamina and physique over their competitors deeming Section 42 of the Sex Discrimination Act relevant.' The Sex Discrimination Act makes it clear that it is against the law for a person to discriminate against another because of their sex or gender identity. Section 42 of that act, states: 'Nothing in division one or two renders it unlawful to exclude persons of one sex from participation in any competitive sporting activity in which the strength, stamina or physique of competitors is relevant.' Aranui, meanwhile, has subsequently broken her silence on the matter, after it was announced she and another player had been banned. 'I've sat quietly long enough while this narrative brewed and I've been dragged—publicly and without consent — into a conversation where both my character and identity have been attacked,' Aranui wrote. 'You're entitled to believe it's 'unfair' for cis women to compete against transgender women. That's your opinion. But the lies? They need to stop. 'You're not out here protecting women's sport. You're being malicious, using false narratives to mask your bigotry and personal agendas behind the guise of 'safeguarding women's spaces.' 'You've spread stories, targeted me, and enabled me to become the sole focus of online abuse and sideline harassment from other clubs and their supporters — right here, in a space where I come to play a sport I love. A place I come to laugh, sweat, compete, and find community. 'I hope you're proud of that. And I hope no child in your families ever has to endure what you've subjected me to.' Netball Victoria is understood to be investigating the matter. 'We support and welcome netballers of all backgrounds,' a spokesperson for Netball Victoria said. 'That includes gender diverse players who have rights under anti-discrimination laws.' The governing body's current policy, introduced in 2018, allows transgender and non-binary players to register and compete in female competitions based on self-identified gender. 'Our goal is to ensure every player feels safe, valued and supported,' the spokesperson added. 'We are working closely with affected clubs to find a resolution that is lawful, inclusive and safe for all participants.' However, by allowing trans athletes to compete in women's disciplines, Grover claims sports are not respecting the rights of female athletes to fair competition. 'I mean, fairness is following the same rules as everyone else, which is just participating in sport according to your sex category,' Grover, who has worked in the film and television industry and studied journalism and philosophy at Bond University, added. 'That's all it is. And so if you wanted any sort of accommodations in that, it would be like making sure that male teams were quite OK with guys that wear skirts arriving and if they have the feminine presenting them, whatever, the trans-identified men, they just accept them. So the onus is on them. 'The onus is not on women's sports teams to change the entire rules of the game and put women in danger and take away opportunities. Because the other thing, and this isn't necessarily a bigger thing in recreational netball-type sports, but leaning up further into it, we must remember that every time there's a man on the team, or in the track event, or the swimming, whatever it is, women missing out purely because he's there. Because it's a numbers game. So there's eight people who can swim in the race and you've got seven women and one man. Well, who's the eighth woman who missed out? Because they put him in instead. She didn't even get a chance.' While World Netball prohibits trans players from competing on the international stage, Equality Australia, who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, say blanket bans on trans athletes are unfair. 'Community-level sport should focus on inclusion and participation,' a representative said. 'Sport is for everyone, and [Australian Institute of Sport] guidelines reaffirm the need that sporting bodies play their part in providing a safe and inclusive environment for all,' Beau Newel, Equity Australia national program manager of pride in sport added. The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) guidelines add that it is important for all Australians to have the chance to compete in sport. 'All Australians should have the opportunity to be involved in sport and physical activity, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ability, cultural background or ethnicity,' the ASC writes. 'It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of, and that together, we ensure every person is treated with respect and dignity and protected from discrimination.'
Fox News
27-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
California makes rule change to girls' track and field championship after Trump's threats over trans athlete
California's track and field state championship is getting a last-minute tweak in its eligibility rules after President Donald Trump called out a transgender athlete controversy that's rocking the Golden State. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, just hours after Trump sent a Truth Social post threatening to withhold federal funding from the state, announcing the change. The competition will now include biologically female athletes that missed out on qualifying for the competition that may have placed higher were it not for a trans athlete's participation. The federation claims it came to the decision at the end of this past weekend's CIF Masters Qualifiers round, days before Trump's statement. The statement also refers to the female competitors as "biological female student-athlete." "The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code. With this in mind, the CIF will be implementing a pilot entry process for the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships," the statement read. "Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section's automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships. The CIF believes this pilot entry process achieves the participation opportunities we seek to afford our student-athletes." The CIF is already under a federal Title IX investigation by the U.S. Department of Education. This change will result in at least two competitors qualifying to compete for the state title after falling just shy of the typical qualification threshold on Saturday. A trans-identified athlete competing as a girl for Jurupa Valley High School took first place in the triple jump and long jump on Saturday. Trump did not identify the name of the school or athlete involved in the situation in his Truth Social post. The Jurupa Unified School district has provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the president's recent post. "JUSD is required to follow both California law and CIF policy regarding school athletics. Both state law and CIF policy currently require that students be permitted to participate in athletic teams and competitions consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records. We remain committed to following the law as written and ensuring that all students are granted the rights afforded to them in a safe and welcoming environment," the statement read. After Trump signed the "No Men's in Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5, the CIF was one of the first high school sports leagues in the country to announce it would not follow the order, and instead comply with California's state law. The CIF came under scrutiny two weeks ago when Fox News Digital reported that CIF officials allegedly made girls' athletes take off their "Protect Girls Sports" t-shirts at a sectional qualifier. The federation acknowledged the incident to Fox News Digital. "Per the CIF Southern Section Playoff Bulletin, all athletes must be dressed in proper, school issued, track uniforms. The student-athletes were asked to comply with this while in the on-field event area, as they were wearing said shirts over their school-issued uniform," the CIF said in a statement at the time. The U.S. Department of Education then sent a warning to the state over the situation via an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital on May 15 ahead of the Jurupa Valley's trans athlete competing in the sectional final. "CIF's and Jurupa Valley High School's apparent flouting of federal civil rights law by allowing a male athlete to compete in a female California track and field [Southern Sectional Division 3 Final] this Saturday, and the alleged retaliation against the girls who are protesting this, is indefensible," Julie Hartman, a Department of Education spokeswoman, told Fox News Digital. "We will not allow institutions to trample upon women's civil rights. OCR's investigation into CIF continues with vigor." After losing to the trans athlete in long jump at the sectional final, La Canada High School's Katie McGuiness urged the CIF to quickly change its policy during an interview on Fox News' "America Reports." "I have nothing against this athlete as a person and I have nothing against the trans community," McGuiness said. "My message today is really specifically to CIF and for them to act quickly and in a timely manner, because this is a really time-sensitive issue." Trans athletes have been allowed to compete as women and girls since 2014, when a law called AB 1266 went into effect, after passing in 2013. The law has enabled several controversial incidents involving trans athletes in girls' and women's sports in the state over the last year. These include the San Jose State women's volleyball scandal that prompted a lawsuit against the school and state for restoring biological male Blaire Fleming without informing the rest of the female players, and a lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District for giving a girls' cross-country roster spot to a trans athlete while scolding students for wearing "Save Girls Sports" t-shirts. Meanwhile, Trump and his administration have put most of their attention involving countering the trans-athlete wave into Maine. A Department of Justice lawsuit against Governor Janet Mills, multiple temporary funding pauses and a Supreme Court case involving state lawmaker Laurel Libby being censured for calling out a minor trans athlete who won a girls' pole vault competition in February, has rocked the New England state for months. But now, Trump has turned his eye to California, and the CIF is already working on accommodations to the backlash in the midst of its current spring track championship controversy. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
