1 day ago
11
AB Hernandez, a 16-year-old track and field athlete from California, had trained for years for this moment.
On Saturday, the high school junior from Jurupa Valley, a city east of Los Angeles, won first place in the high jump, first place in the triple jump and silver in the long jump in the state finals.
“Track is everything to me. Track is my little baby,” she told the Guardian on Tuesday. “It’s crazy I can say that I’m a state champion for something I love so much. It’s an honor.”
The track meet should have drawn little attention outside of the local news that cover high school sports. But the Trump administration, and anti-LGBTQ+ activists from across the country, have turned AB’s achievements into an international media spectacle, because she is transgender.
Last week, Donald Trump targeted AB in a frenzied social media post, claiming he was “ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow” her to compete, writing her participation was “NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS”.
AB said she was not letting the attacks distract her or take away her joy: “I can tune it out pretty well. I don’t really care. It’s weird when reporters come, and I’m like, I forgot I’m famous now,” she said, with a laugh. “But for the most part, I’m living a normal life, and then I go on social media and, I’m like, wait, I’m known.”
Her mother, Nereyda Hernandez, said she backs her daughter “120%” and has been blown away by the hard work she’s put into accomplishing her dreams. “Years ago, she said, ‘In my junior year, I’m going to place first.’ How does a child set these goals and actually achieve them? That’s amazing and incredible.”
Trump’s missives came after he has spent the first months of his second term attacking the rights of trans youth to live openly at school, access anti-discrimination protections, participate in activities that match their gender and obtain vital healthcare.
On Tuesday, the US justice department claimed in a letter to California school districts that it was “unconstitutional” to allow trans youth to play sports that align with their gender, and Trump threatened “large-scale fines”. The president has repeatedly targeted Maine’s federal funding over its trans-inclusive sports policies, but the northeast state scored a significant courtroom victory last month that blocked a key part of the administration’s efforts.
California has for more than a decade allowed trans girls to participate in girls’ sports, with little fanfare or pushback and in line with policies in more than 20 other states. But Republicans and anti-LGBTQ+ groups in the US have in recent years made trans youth participation in sports a top policy priority, amid growing global debate about trans athletes in women’s sports.
The calls for further restrictions in schools target a tiny fraction of the population. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president said last year he was aware of fewer than ten trans athletes in college across the US, and anti-trans groups have previously acknowledged they could identify even fewer trans youth at the K-12 level.
Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, recently drew sharp rebukes from LGBTQ+ rights groups and members of his own party when he said in a podcast that he felt the participation of trans girls in sports was “deeply unfair”.
In the wake of Trump’s threats, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), a nonprofit that regulates high school sports, announced a “pilot” for new rules. In the high jump, triple jump and long jump, the events AB competes in, CIF said cisgender girls who would have qualified for the state championship if they hadn’t lost to a trans girl would still advance, and that cis girls would also win the highest medals even if a trans girl beats them.
The CIF did not respond to inquiries on Wednesday. Izzy Gardon, a Newsom spokesperson, praised the CIF pilot in an email, saying it was a “reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness”.
While AB has faced escalating backlash and harassment from outside groups, she and her mom said her own school community has consistently supported her.
AB said her classmates in Jurupa Valley, a city Trump won by two points, understood that she excelled in track because of the time and energy she dedicated: “They see how hard I train. I constantly watch [myself] on film, see what I can do better. I probably do 10 times more than any athlete at my school. They see that, and the media doesn’t. They have a lot of respect for me and I don’t get hate at my own school.”
Over the weekend, as temperatures soared above 100F (38C) in Clovis in central California, AB shared her two gold wins and one silver with other girls, who stood alongside her at the podium – and were quick to embrace her.
Brooke White, who earned second place in the long jump alongside AB, told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Sharing the podium was nothing but an honor. Although the publicity she’s been receiving has been pretty negative, I believe she deserves publicity because she’s a superstar, she’s a rock star, she’s representing who she is.”
Jillene Wetteland, who shared the high-jump first place with AB and another girl, told the paper: “I love both of the people I tied with.”
As they celebrated their wins, some adult protesters heckled and attacked AB on the sidelines.
“I will forever be grateful for these girls,” AB told the Guardian. “When we were lining up to get our medals, I told them: ‘You made my experience perfect. I couldn’t have done it without you.’ It was amazing to see they stood up for me.”
Her mother, who first spoke out in news outlet Capital and Main in April, said she wasn’t surprised to see overwhelming support from her daughter’s competitors, which, she noted, contradicted the claims of anti-trans groups that the cis girls were victimized by AB’s participation: “The girls have never had an issue with AB. What is put out there is a false narrative that has to do with a political campaign. I tell AB, don’t take it personally. They’re using you. Don’t get distracted by this.”
‘God would want us to protect and love our kids’
Nereyda Hernandez has acknowledged that she previously supported Trump and said she considers herself non-partisan: “I wanted to put that out there so people know it doesn’t matter what your political views are, you can still be accepting and supportive of your family member.”
She said she was raised Catholic and it was a process to understand and accept her daughter: “But I told AB from day one, ‘You’re still my baby, so I’m going to support you.’ I’ve been open that it’s going to be a little difficult, because it’s not what I’m used to, but I said I’m willing to learn and accept. Honestly, it’s the best thing I could have done, because I cannot imagine what this child would have went through if I was close-minded and unsupportive.”
She said faith and politics should never get in the way of parents supporting their children: “God gave us these children, what would God want us to do? Protect, support and love our kids. So that’s what I’m doing.”
The mother and daughter said they were using donated funds to get a letterman jacket marking her victories, and AB said she planned to spend her final high school summer practicing and hanging with friends. She is interested in applying to a prestigious California university and wants to go into nursing.
AB’s message to other trans youth athletes who might be afraid to compete in this climate?
“You are probably going to be the only person who knows how hard you work. As long as you know you’ve put in the time, the work, the effort, that’s all that matters. Whatever anyone else says, and it might be a large-scale of people, just tune it out.”
Her mother works as a legal document assistant and said she was well-versed in her daughter’s rights and has been making that clear to anyone who tries to violate their privacy or undermine her achievements.
“They try to use intimidation tactics to push people to quit, but I’m not scared of them. They bark, but we bite,” she said. “I don’t think they realized who they messed with. People say, ‘Ooh, they messed with the wrong kid.’ But at the same time, they messed with the right one. Because I’m not keeping my mouth shut.”
