With the state’s track and field championships around the corner, California has announced changes to its competition rules after a transgender female athlete qualified for the state championships in several events.
According to The Guardian, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is extending qualification access for biological females. The decision came shortly after President Trump took to social media, calling out the state for allowing a transgender athlete to compete. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, similar to the current situation in Maine.
With the state’s track and field championships around the corner, California has announced changes to its competition rules after a transgender female athlete qualified for the state championships in several events.
According to The Guardian, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is extending qualification access for biological females. The decision came shortly after President Trump took to social media, calling out the state for allowing a transgender athlete to compete. Trump threatened to withhold federal funding, similar to the current situation in Maine.
CIF will allow biological female student-athletes into the state championship meet who were displaced by the transgender athlete, and biological females displaced in state competition will automatically pass through the qualifying rounds.
Related: California HS Track Meet Erupts in Protest Over Trans Athlete Participation
In a statement the organization said, “Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section's automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships.”
According to KCRA, California governor Gavin Newsom also said that the track and field championships will separately score transgender student-athletes. “There could now potentially be three first place winners in the Long Jump competition, for example: One biological boy, one trans athlete, and one biological girl.”
The decision to amend the track and field state championships qualifications and scoring comes just weeks after Newsom received a letter from the Department of Education, demanding he clarify the state’s stance on trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.
However, not everyone is pleased with the current resolution. Senator Scott Wiener, a long-time LGBTQ rights advocate, said, “California law protects trans people. That won’t change. Maine won in court. So will California. There’s only one answer to a bully: No. As Maine Governor Janet Mills said, ‘See you in court.’”
