Here's CA’s Puzzling Response to Trump's Pledge to Cut Title IX Funding

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was pretty vocal about his belief that it's "fundamentally unfair" for a boy to compete in a girls' sporting event a few months back when he had Charlie Kirk on his podcast, but he's stood silently by while a teenage boy, AB Hernandez, has been making his way to the state track and field championships - in the girls' division. Finally, Newsom has been compelled to speak and act; predictably, those actions and words are puzzling and do not at all address the issue.

Chino Valley Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw and others have loudly protested Hernandez's inclusion in girls' track and field meets and have been met with harassment by his mother and derision from California Democrats.

A boy just won 1st place in both Girls Long Jump and Triple Jump at CIF Masters.
Girls were robbed of their chance to compete at state.

Instead of fixing it, his mother sent Jessica Tapia and myself a cease and desist, asked to have CPS called on me, and gaslighted the girls.… pic.twitter.com/IZ2hNbRtWO
— Sonja Shaw (@realSonjaShaw) May 25, 2025

As a result of Shaw's efforts, President Trump became aware of the terrible situation and sent Newsom a very clear message Tuesday morning, as my colleague Ward Clark reported.

Trump wrote, in part:

This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won “everything,” and is now qualified to compete in the “State Finals” next weekend. As a Male, he was a less than average competitor. As a Female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable. THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to. The Governor, himself, said it is “UNFAIR.” I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go??? In the meantime 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 governing body for high school sports in the state, the California Interscholastic Federation, issued a statement Tuesday saying that after the meet Trump referenced they decided to "pilot an entry process" for the upcoming state championship meet, ostensibly to allow girls who were displaced by AB Hernandez to compete. But the statement is confusing, at best.

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.
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.

In the first sentence of the second paragraph, there seems to be something missing. As it is written, it implies that any biological female student-athlete who didn't earn an automatic qualifying entry or at-large mark was invited to participate in the state championship. I assume that they meant any biological female who would have qualified but for the participation of a biological male in their meets was (or would be) invited.

This pilot problem also doesn't solve the problem. If the boys who took the female athletes' place at the championship meet are still allowed to compete in the meet, what chance do the female athletes have to win? So CIF is allowing them to come compete against boys AGAIN? Big whoop.

According to reporting from KCRA's Ashley Zavala, the girls won't be scored against the boys:

Gov. Gavin Newsom's office clarified that the CIF's pilot policy also means events at the Track and Field Championships on May 30-31 in Clovis will score separately for transgender students. So there could now be three first place winners in the Long Jump competition, for example: One biological boy, one trans athlete, and one girl.
"CIF's proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness," said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom. "The Governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach."

But that's not stated anywhere in CIF's statement, and it's not outlined anywhere on their website as of press time.

Unnamed sources also told Zavala that CIF "had informed the governor of the change weeks ago, before the president's social media post." If that's true, why wasn't it announced earlier? And since CIF's policies are based on California law and the California Education Code, has something changed there allowing them to do this pilot policy? Was there a board vote allowing it? Or is this back-door politics? Knowing Newsom, everyone he spoke to probably had to sign an NDA.

Shaw, who is running for California Superintendent of Public Instruction, had a lot to say about this development.

We asked President Trump to intervene and he HEARD us. The hammer is coming down.
Newsom sued our district just for involving parents. California is allowing males to dominate girls sports. One just swept a girls event and is headed to the State Finals. His mother sent cease and desist letters to Jessica Tapia and me, then confronted me at the track. She even demanded CPS be called on me for protecting our daughters.
This is not inclusion. It is invasion. It is discrimination. It is a violation of Title IX and a direct attack on every female athlete who trains with integrity and competes for her future.
I have received death threats. One activist even offered money for someone to smash my head with a hammer. But we are not backing down.
Multiple school boards passed the resolution I authored to protect girls sports. Let’s flip those seats. We filed civil rights complaints. We sent letters directly to President Trump.
Now he is calling it what it is. Illegal. Unfair. Ridiculous. He is threatening to pull federal funding, and I say pull it now. California has made it clear they will not comply.

If you're under any impression that AB Hernandez's mom is simply looking out for her child, have a gander at this gaslighting, abusive, and threatening video she posted before a regional meet a few weeks ago.

Here, the male athlete's mother speaks to the girls being forced to compete against her son tomorrow. Would any legal experts like to weigh in? Certainly sounds like a threat to me. pic.twitter.com/yLDkMZWTXa
— Julie Hamill (@hamill_law) May 10, 2025