California Transgender Volleyball Player Controversy
A transgender volleyball player from California has been a pivotal part of her high school team, which has started its league play with an impressive, undefeated record. The Jurupa Valley High School girls’ volleyball team achieved a 6-0 league standing after a victory at Rubidoux, bringing their overall season record to 14-8. However, it’s worth noting that eight wins this season—including one from league play—have been revoked. This decision appears linked to the presence of trans athlete AB Hernandez, though the eight opposing teams that forfeited haven’t publicly clarified their reasons.
The most recent team to forfeit was Patriot High School, a direct league rival. This team is also from the same school district as Jurupa Valley. They are set to face Jurupa Valley again on October 13th.
Interestingly, two of Hernandez’s teammates have chosen to leave the team as a form of protest and have filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District regarding their experiences playing alongside Hernandez over the past three years.
With only five games left in the regular season, including another match against the Patriots, Jurupa Valley is poised for potential postseason play.
This situation isn’t unique to Jurupa Valley. Last November, another Californian high school, Stoneridge Christian High School, saw a similar scenario where they forfeited a playoff match against San Francisco Waldorf due to the presence of a trans player on their roster. Stoneridge explicitly cited the trans athlete as the reason for their decision.
In a statement, the team mentioned, “Unfortunately, our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has been informed that male athletes are playing for the team.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has recently made statements about the increasing number of controversies involving transgender athletes in high school sports. They indicated that such matters fall outside the governor’s jurisdiction, hinting at gaps in regulations from entities like the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation.
The CIF operates independently and oversees high school sports, while the California Department of Education is a separate entity and not under gubernatorial control. Both organizations are currently facing lawsuits from the U.S. Department of Justice over policies regarding biological males competing in women’s sports.
In a legislative context, earlier this year, the California State Legislature blocked two bills that aimed to alter current laws permitting transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports. Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur voiced strong opposition against one of the bills, likening it to historical events in Nazi Germany, expressing concerns over potential authoritarianism.
In a notable incident, another assembly member, Kate Sanchez, reported a dramatic moment when Zbur left the chamber after sharing his thoughts in a meeting attended by descendants of Holocaust survivors.
