More than half a dozen schools in California have refused to play against a girls’ team that has a male athlete.
Jurupa Valley High School in Jurupa Valley, California, is once again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Earlier this year, a boy presenting himself as a girl competed against females in high jump, triple jump, and long jump at a meet in Ventura County, California.
‘They are leading a movement to restore integrity and biological reality to women’s sports.’
The athlete, known as A.B. Hernandez, went on to win gold medals in high jump and triple jump at the state championships, according to the Daily Mail. But what flew under the radar last school year was that Hernandez also led the girls’ volleyball team to an undefeated season.
This season, after the state was entrenched in controversy over a different transgender volleyball player, multiple schools are refusing to participate in volleyball games against Hernandez’s squad.
RELATED: ‘That’s a boy!’ Male athlete trounces female competition; wins two girls’ events at track meet
Photo by Fresno Bee via Getty Images
According to Fox News, seven schools have refused to play against Jurupa Valley: Riverside Poly High School, Rim of the World High School, Orange Vista High School, AB Miller High School, Aquinas High School, Yucaipa High School, and San Dimas High School.
It is unclear how many of the games have been recorded as wins by default for Jurupa, but the school was given a recorded victory for Yucaipa High School’s refusal to play.
To add insult to injury, three teammates of Hernandez have filed a lawsuit against their school after allegedly sharing a team and locker room with the transgender athlete for three years.
Two sisters, Madison and Alyssa McPherson, are from a Catholic family that rejects the notion that there are genders other than male and female.
The third teammate in the lawsuit, Hadeel Hazameh, is from a Muslim family that cites “religious obligations” that prevent the daughter from “exposing her hair or body to males, including by wearing a hijab.”
Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images
“Every time a young woman has the courage to sue or take a stand against males in female athletics, it inspires more girls to rise up,” Sophia Lorey, outreach director at California Family Council, told Blaze News. “Each forfeit shows the impossible choice female athletes are being forced into: Compromise their convictions, safety, and dignity, or walk away from the game they love.”
Lorey added, “They are leading a movement to restore integrity and biological reality to women’s sports.”
At the same time, former national gymnastics champion and women’s sports advocate Jennifer Sey also told Blaze News she is proud of the young women for “standing up and pushing back.”
“I hate that the adults are leaving it to young women and girls to defend themselves,” Sey said. “It’s time for every sensible adult to screw up their moral courage and stand with women and girls and for biological reality. Religious or not, it’s wrong, and it is material reality that is being violated.”
The California Department of Education, the Jurupa Unified School District, and the California Interscholastic Federation — the defendants in the lawsuit — all declined to comment when contacted by KABC-TV.
According to Stateline Sports Network, Jurupa Valley High School said that while it acknowledges the “disappointment” of its athletes who are “ready and prepared to play,” the decisions to cancel matches were “made by teams in other districts.”
The school also said it is “compelled to follow the law,” which “protects students from discrimination based on gender identity.”
The law “requires that students be permitted to participate on athletic teams that are consistent with their gender identity (California Education Code 221.5 (f)),” the school cited.
Jurupa Valley High School concluded, “We are proud of our JVHS Jaguars and their willingness to play any team and represent their school and our district with pride. We are currently working to find additional matches to give them that opportunity.”
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