CLOVIS — It was a relatively quiet day of protest outside the CIF State track and field championship prelims Friday afternoon, with just a handful of demonstrators standing with signs outside of Veteran’s Memorial Stadium.
That briefly changed when a small plane with a banner trailing behind it that read “No boys in girls’ sports!” began to circle the stadium as Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez, a trans student-athlete, began to compete in the high jump – her first of three events that day.
“It was time for a banner because we’ve done the protests and nothing’s changed. We’ve shown up at all the CIF public comment periods and nothing’s changed,” Julie Lane, co-founder of Women Are Real, said.
@haleymsawyerA plane with a banner that says “no boys in girls sports!” flew in circles around Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday as openly trans student-athlete AB Hernandez started competing in high jump, her first event of the day, at the CIF State track and field prelims. #sportsreporter #sports #trackandfield #trackmeet #trans #transathlete
♬ original sound – Haley Sawyer
Women Are Real – or WAR for short – is a grassroots organization with more than 160 members across California who are against trans athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Many members have lost partners, friends or family members over their involvement, but the group remains steadfast.
The group did not have a large physical presence at the track meet Friday aside from the plane. Lane said Women Are Real members were inside the stadium two years ago for a protest but were removed by the CIF.
The CIF is not allowing signs or banners into Veteran’s Memorial Stadium this year.
“We wanted to make a big statement and we didn’t want to be shut down by the CIF again,” Lane said. “They shut us down all the time.”
The plane and its message cost more than $3,000 and was funded entirely by Women Are Real members, Lane said. Members pledged a monetary donation and when enough was raised, Lane began calling companies for quotes.
There were no difficulties getting quotes or finding a company to agree to fly the message, she said.
“It’s really difficult for us to have a voice in this when everybody is censoring us or beating us up or trying to shut us up,” Lane said. “We figured a plane in the air, nobody can stop that.”
The CIF introduced a new pilot entry program related to transgender athletes after the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet, which allowed an extra biological female to advance in the events that Hernandez competed in.
Lane says it’s not enough.
“We’re not preventing anyone from playing,” she said. “We’re just saying, play in your correct category. The CIF ought to be doing that too.
“I’m talking about common sense, that’s all we’re talking about. This is similar to anorexia, it’s similar to suicide, these things are social contagion issues that later people finally figure out and stop doing it. And the Democrats have so much power right now in California that it’s really hard to stop this delusion.”
The federal government launched an investigation into California school administrators, the CIF and the Jurupa Unified School District for allowing transgender student-athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
California state law allows students to access restrooms, sports teams and other facilities based on gender identity. A 2023 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 3.3% of U.S. high school students identified as transgender and 2.2% identified as questioning.
The probe is seeking to determine whether Title IX is violated by California law – specifically, AB 1266.
Jurupa Unified School District did not respond to a request for comment regarding AB Hernandez’s participation in the track and field championships ahead of the event.
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