CA High School Sports Governing Body Tries Again to Fix Rule Allowing Boys to Compete As Girls, and Fails

There's a new development in the story related to the upcoming California state high school track and field finals scheduled for this weekend, as the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has issued a clarification of how their "pilot program" allowing female student-athletes whose medals and spots were taken by boys pretending to be girls to compete will work.

If you haven't been following the story, a boy named AB Hernandez is currently the top-ranked girls' triple jumper, and second-ranked girls' long jumper, heading into the state finals. Back in February, a school board member from a district that competes with Hernandez's school filed official complaints with the US Department of Education and the district itself and, assisted by other Mama Bears, embarked on a campaign to keep Hernandez from competing as a girl. After Hernandez placed in multiple events during last weekend's regional meet, on Tuesday President Trump threatened to yank federal funding from the state for violating Title IX.

After Trump's social media post about the same, the CIF announced that they'd implemented a "pilot program" to allow girls who'd lost their spots at the state meet to a biological male to still compete in the state meet - where they'd be competing against the same boys they'd already lost to. And, there was nothing said about the girls being forced to share a locker room with the male athletes pretending to be girls. However, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office then claimed that the boys competing as girls would be scored separately - without any additional context or information.

Then, on Wednesday Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced that the Department of Justice launched an investigation against the CIF to determine if their policy mandating that males be allowed to participate as whichever gender they identify with. She also announced that she'd directed the US Attorney for the Central District of California to investigate whether this policy violated the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Phew.

Wednesday afternoon the CIF posted additional information about how their pilot program will work and, unsurprisingly, it's still vague and incomplete. They wrote:

On Friday, May, 30, if necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump qualifying events at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, a biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark will also be advanced to the finals.
Additionally, if necessary, in the high jump, triple jump and long jump events at the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships, a biological female student-athlete who would have earned a specific placement on the podium will also be awarded the medal for that place and the results will be reflected in the recording of the event.

I'm not sure whether to laugh, scream, or cry. It's rather hilarious that they (whoever came up with this at CIF) thought this would somehow be satisfactory. AAG Dhillon, posting to X from her personal account, wasn't impressed, saying, "Strange. Also doesn't solve the problem. Try again."

Strange. Also doesn’t solve the problem. Try again. https://t.co/PEhOj8ALyn
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) May 28, 2025

Exactly. As it reads, it seems that the boys will still be competing with the girls, and we could end up with two "girls" champions (or two second-place or third-place finishers) - one girl and one boy. And how does this work if a boy competing on a girls' team is participating in a relay event? Not to mention, it doesn't address the issue of locker rooms and having boys in girls' spaces, or the issue of a boy taking a scholarship that should have gone to a girl.

Why should a girl who's worked hard her entire life to achieve something as prestigious as a state championship have to share a podium with a boy who's pretending to be a girl?

The CIF must rescind its rule mandating that boys be allowed to compete as girls and add a new rule that boys cannot compete as girls. Create a separate category for transgender students if you must, but absent that, students must compete in the appropriate category - boys against boys, and girls against girls.

I cannot believe that we've come to this ridiculous place in history. Future generations will look back on this abuse of girls - and the abuse of other children through forced sterilization and genital mutilation - and correctly regard it as barbaric and unscientific, much the way we look back at lobotomies and electric shock therapy.