A year after being awarded two gold medals at the California state track and field championships amid protests over her participation as a transgender girl, a high school athlete will return to the meet this week to defend her titles — and maybe claim a third, or more.
AB Hernandez, a senior at Jurupa Valley High School, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, is considered a strong contender to win three events at the event on Friday and Saturday in Clovis, Calif.: high jump, triple jump and long jump. But even if she finishes far ahead of her competitors, she won’t stand alone on the podium.
Last year, the debate over whether it is fair for trans girls to compete in girls’ events reached the White House, as President Trump threatened to withhold funding from California if it let her compete. Event organizers scrambled to assuage concerns and made a last-minute rule change: Athletes who finished in the spot behind a trans athlete would be elevated to share the trans girl’s placement.
So when Ms. Hernandez won the high jump and the triple jump last year under the new rule, she and her fellow competitors squeezed onto the top spot of the podium for the medal ceremonies. She also shared the silver medal — and the podium — in the long jump.
California officials have said they will use the same protocols at this year’s meet.
This year, though, an even bigger issue is looming for trans athletes. Across the country, in Washington, the Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether to uphold two state laws barring trans girls and women from competing on school teams that match their gender identity.
The cases involve laws in West Virginia and Idaho, and the ruling could affect similar laws in 25 other states.
The West Virginia case in front of the Supreme Court involves Becky Pepper-Jackson, a trans athlete and high school sophomore who sued to compete on her middle school’s girls’ cross-country team when she was 11. She is 15 now and among the top high school shot putters and discus throwers in the state.
The Idaho case involves Lindsay Hecox, now 24, a trans athlete who wanted to compete on the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University. She has asked the court to drop the case because she has stopped competing in women’s sports.
Both plaintiffs argued that their states’ laws violated Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded institutions, and also violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
Since 2013, state law in California has allowed trans girls and women to compete in the category that matches their gender identity.
“I don’t anticipate anything about California’s policies will be impacted by this decision,” Chris Erchull, a senior staff attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, said of the impending Supreme Court ruling. “The decision is going to be about whether states can have bans.”
The court ruling will come after years of intense political and scientific debate over whether it’s fair for trans girls to compete in the girls’ category.
People who are against trans girls’ competing in girls’ events believe that trans athletes hold a physical and physiological edge. They say trans girls, even ones who began taking testosterone blockers before puberty, retain an advantage of more muscle mass and longer bone length. Testosterone is a hormone known to increase strength, muscle mass and endurance.
Opponents of trans girls’ participation say that those athletes will prevent girls who were assigned female at birth from having a fair chance to win, or from even making their sports teams.
A New York Times/Ipsos poll in January 2025 found that 94 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats believed transgender women should not compete against other women.
Amy Harmon contributed reporting.
Juliet Macur is a national reporter at The Times, based in Washington, D.C., who often writes about America through the lens of sports.
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