The parents of a California female athlete are blasting Gavin Newsom after a trans competitor dominated multiple events at a Southern Section track and field meet.
The fierce debate over transgender athletes in girls’ sports has been reignited as Crean Lutheran senior Reese Hogan prepares for another showdown this weekend after finishing behind transgender athlete AB Hernandez in the girls’ high jump during the opening round of the CIF sectional preliminaries last Saturday.
The result echoed last season, when Hogan also placed second to Hernandez in the sectional final.
That meet drew national attention after Hogan stepped onto the first-place podium once Hernandez stepped down.
Now entering her senior-year sectional finals on Saturday, Hogan’s parents say their daughter is once again being forced to compete under unfair conditions.
“As a parent witnessing the current state of high school athletics, I am deeply disappointed by Governor Newsom’s recent comments regarding transgender participation in girls’ sports,” Hogan’s parents said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
With divisional finals and the state championships approaching, her parents said the stakes have become far greater than simple participation.
“As parents, we don’t ask for a path cleared of obstacles; we ask for a level playing field where hard work and biological reality are respected,” the statement read.
“As the season enters CIF divisional finals, then on to Masters and eventually State the stakes are no longer about ‘participation.’ These athletes are competing for much more: state titles which is the culmination of years of dedication and focus.”
Newsom’s office pushed back against criticism in a statement to Fox News Digital, defending the governor’s position on the issue.
“The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing’s cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids,” the statement said.”
The controversy intensified after last weekend’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 preliminaries at Yorba Linda High School, where Hernandez delivered standout performances in all three jumping events against female competitors.
Hernandez also tied Hogan for first place in the high jump after both athletes cleared 5 feet, 2 inches.
The performances reignited criticism from opponents of California’s transgender sports policies, who argue biological males maintain athletic advantages over female competitors.
Outside the meet, demonstrators gathered for a “Save Girls’ Sports” rally organized by former NCAA athlete Sophia Lorey.
Protesters accused Newsom of abandoning girls competing in high school athletics.
One demonstrator shouted that “girls are being threatened.”
Others at the event expressed frustration that the controversy has continued into another season.
“It happened last year and I thought it’d be done, but it’s California,” one grandparent supporting Moorpark High School told Outkick.
California has allowed students to compete in sports based on gender identity since the passage of the School Success and Opportunity Act, known as AB 1266.
Signed into law in 2013 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, the measure requires schools to permit students to participate in sex-segregated sports and use facilities consistent with their gender identity rather than the sex listed on official records.
Last year Newsom appeared to make a concession on the topic — calling it “deeply unfair” for transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports during the first episode of his podcast.
“It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair,” he said. “I’m not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
The law remains in place today, making California one of at least 22 states with similar policies governing transgender participation in school athletics.
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