California's girls' sports culture war amps up with massive protest, outrage over recent track and field title

The struggle implicit biologic males successful girls' sports successful California re-entered the nationalist spotlight implicit the weekend. The debate's flames were fanned by a large-scale protestation astatine a authorities precocious schoolhouse sports gathering and past a arguable result astatine a girls' way and tract conscionable the adjacent day. 

The authorities has go the nation's biggest epicenter for the issue, and the people of a suit by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly violating Title IX for its transgender eligibility policies.

Internally, galore of the state's residents person continued to dissent from the authorities for those policies. That dissent culminated successful a flash constituent connected Friday erstwhile dozens of pistillate athletes and their families rallied extracurricular a California Interscholatic Federation (CIF) assembly gathering successful Long Beach to protest. 

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"Save Girls Sports" activists clasp a rally extracurricular a CIF assembly gathering successful Long Beach, California, connected Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Courtesy of Sophia Lorey)

California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital it was their largest rally yet, arsenic they've held respective successful caller years.

Local California girls who person been impacted by antheral competitors successful their sports took to the podium to talk retired against the CIF for not changing its policies. A full of 16 speakers, comprised of precocious schoolhouse athletes, household members, politicians and activists spoke astatine the rally. 

Many of the speeches person since gone viral. 

Former Jurupa Valley High School pupil jock Hadeel Hazameh had to postgraduate aboriginal aft speaking retired successful the autumn against a trans teammate connected her way and tract and volleyball team. 

Arroyo Grande High School pupil jock Celeste Duyst recalled an alleged acquisition of a biologic antheral trans jock watching her and different girls alteration successful the locker room. 

California GOP State Assemblymembers Kate Sanchez and David Tangipa showed up to springiness speeches successful enactment of the girls arsenic well. 

Meanwhile, Democrat State Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal besides showed up to movie a Facebook video mocking the protesters, claiming the Republicans successful attendance "don't really attraction astir women."

"We each cognize they don't really attraction astir women," Lowenthal said. 

Inside the meeting, protesters connected some sides of the contented spoke emotionally astir the topic. But Lorey told Fox News Digital that the assembly members astatine nary constituent addressed the contented of protecting girls' sports, oregon adjacent made oculus interaction with the speakers. 

Singer and Los Angeles mayoral campaigner Tish Hyman delivered a boisterous code condemning the CIF assembly members. 

"Martin Luther King did not march truthful these trans people, oregon immoderate they are, tin usage our civilian rights to propulsion trans drugs connected kids!" Hyman yelled. 

Crean Lutheran High School pupil Reese Hogan went viral past outpouring erstwhile she stepped onto the archetypal spot place connected a medal podium astatine a CIF postseason meet, close aft the trans jock who finished supra her stepped off. Hogan spoke successful the gathering astir having to repeatedly vie against the antheral athlete. 

"On May 4th, 2024, May 10th, 2025, May 17th, 2025, May 30th, 2025, and January 31st, 2026, I competed successful meets wherever I mislaid to a antheral jock competing successful a girl's way and field. These are not isolated incidents, they are repeated moments wherever pistillate athletes similar were straight affected by policies that disregard reality" Hogan said. 

Speakers successful enactment of trans athletes successful girls' sports, including a section trans student, besides delivered speeches to the assembly members that Lorey said went unaddressed. 

'HORRIBLE' MOMENTS EXPOSED FOR UNR VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS WHEN THEY WERE ROPED INTO THE SJSU TITLE IX SCANDAL

Taylor Starling speaks astatine a "Save Girls Sports" rally successful California. (Courtesy of the California Family Council)

"This nationalist absorption to lone brings utmost scrutiny and harm to these students," the trans pupil said. "I myself was taxable to utmost protest, sometimes hundreds of students protesting against me."

ACLU of Southern California lawyer Kristen Burzynski argued "sports should beryllium for each kids," astatine the meeting. 

"This is not astir fairness. It's not astir protecting girls. It's astir making beingness harder for young radical who are already being pushed to the margins," Burzynski said. "Transgender students are not trying to cheat oregon bargain trophies. They conscionable privation to play with their friends."

The time aft the meeting, a salient transgender jock for Jurupa Valley High School won archetypal spot successful the girls’ triple leap astatine the VS California Winter Championships. The jock besides won 2nd spot successful the girls' agelong jump. 

Fox News Digital is not disclosing the sanction of the trans jock successful this circumstantial communicative astatine the petition of the athlete's parent erstwhile we reached retired for comment. However, the parent and jock person antecedently spoken retired publically and the athlete's sanction is wide reported and known.

News of the trans athlete's triumph rapidly dispersed crossed societal media.

Activists crossed the state person spoken retired to further condemn California enactment for enabling specified incidents to occur. 

New York Times bestselling writer Dr. Naomi Wolfe shared quality of the incidental connected X, penning "I conscionable can’t basal this anymore." 

Great Britain Olympic Medalist Sharron Davies wrote successful effect to the quality connected X, "Remember 95% of 15/16 boys satellite records are faster than elite pistillate satellite records. This is conscionable cheating."

Former U.S. gymnast and XX-XY Athletics co-founder Jennifer Sey wrote, "How galore girls has this 1 lad pushed disconnected the podium?"

Fox News Digital has reached retired to the CIF and Jurupa Unified School District for comment. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said successful a podcast speech with Charlie Kirk past March that helium believed males competing successful girls' sports is "deeply unfair" but has not taken immoderate enactment oregon adjacent immoderate verbal inaugural to code the situation. 

In September, Newsom's bureau provided a connection to Fox News Digital successful effect to the complaints by athletes and parents, suggesting the work falls connected the CIF, CDE and authorities legislature, but not connected him. 

"CIF is an autarkic nonprofit that governs precocious schoolhouse sports. The California Department of Education is simply a abstracted law office. Neither is nether the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE person stated they travel existing authorities instrumentality — a instrumentality that was passed successful 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in enactment with 21 different states. For the instrumentality to change, the legislature would request to nonstop the Governor a bill. They person not," the connection read. 

On April 1, the California authorities legislature blocked 2 bills that would reverse the existent instrumentality which allows males successful girls' sports. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is slated to merchandise an upcoming memoir, "Young Man successful a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery," Feb. 24, 2026. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Every Democrat voted against it, with Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that 1 of the bills "is truly reminiscent to maine of what happened successful Nazi Germany successful the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy successful this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender radical were persecuted, barred from nationalist life." 

Zbur said this portion successful the beingness of a descendant of a holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to Sanchez. 

"She stood up and near due to the fact that she was conscionable truthful disgusted with the comparison," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. 

Newsom made nary nationalist connection astatine the clip encouraging immoderate of his chap Democrats to enactment the bill. At that point, Newsom had already made his archetypal nationalist statements disputing the "fairness" of trans athletes successful girls' and women's sports, successful the archetypal occurrence of his podcast aft helium was pressed connected the contented by the precocious Charlie Kirk. 

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Newsom's bureau provided a transcript of an evident speech betwixt him and a newsman connected April 2, the time aft the bills were blocked, successful which the politician said helium "didn't wage immoderate attention" to the bills. He added that helium was preoccupied with Los Angeles wildfire recovery. 

"Well, I didn't wage immoderate attraction to the committee yesterday. I was, literally, spent astir of the time talking astir LA occurrence betterment with our teams. And advancement is being made there, by the way, but we're starting to tally up into immoderate of those ‘abundance’ conversations astir permitting that's already starting to instrumentality shape, wherever astir of my absorption was yesterday," Newsom said erstwhile asked astir the failed ballot and the wide contented of males successful girls' sports.

The U.S. Department of Education announced 19 caller investigations into acquisition entities suspected of violating Title IX.

Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) successful Riverside, California was astatine the precise apical of investigations that the Education Department announced connected Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, 1 of the state's largest nationalist universities, San Jose State, was determined to person violated Title IX successful its handling of transgender volleyball subordinate Blaire Fleming from 2022-24. SJSU receives the bulk of its operating fund from authorities appropriation, with authorities backing accounting for astir 52% of its full budget, per the university. 

The assemblage has an ultimatum to comply with a bid of solution terms, oregon it could look a nonaccomplishment of national backing and a imaginable suit itself. 

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