Across the nation, a startling incident at a high school track competition in California is provoking intense debate and indignation.
Despite placing second in the triple jump, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran made a daring physical statement by taking the top spot on the podium at the CIF Southern Section Finals.
Why? AB Hernandez, a transgender athlete who was born male but now competes as female, defeated Hogan.
Is women’s sports under attack?
The nation is being torn apart by the controversy surrounding transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. Critics caution that it directly jeopardizes fairness and the integrity of women’s competition, while supporters argue that it is about inclusion, identity, and fundamental human rights.
Now, the issue isn’t just a cultural flashpoint — it’s a political one, too. In February, former President Donald Trump took a bold stance by signing an executive order that bans transgender women from competing in female sports divisions.
Trump declared, “The war on women’s sports is over,” vowing that during the upcoming LA Olympic Games, “my administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes.”
The move, unsurprisingly, ignited a nationwide firestorm — and not every state is falling in line. Maine, for example, has openly refused to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports.
And now, a viral moment out of California has reignited the explosive debate.
The footage
At the CIF Southern Section Finals on May 18, Crean Lutheran High School’s Reese Hogan took a defiant stand.
The video
Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School made a bold statement on May 18 at the CIF Southern Section Finals.
After the official ceremony, Hogan returned to the podium and stood tall on the top spot, which was left unoccupied after the event’s winner, vocal transgender athlete AB Hernandez, left, despite finishing second in the triple jump.
Viral video of the incident swiftly became viral on the internet. It represented annoyance at what many perceive to be an unequal playing field.
Hernandez, an athlete who identifies as female but is physically male, won the tournament with a leap of 41 feet, 4 inches, more than four feet higher than Hogan’s.
Hernandez, a graduate of California’s Jurupa Valley High School, qualified for the May 24 CIF Masters Meet by winning the long jump and finishing eighth in the high jump.
The internet responded quickly.
The founder of the women’s sports advocacy group XX-XY, Jennifer Sey, stated, “This guy won the girls long jump and triple jump in a CA track meet over the weekend.”
Wow, what an accomplishment. I’m sure it had nothing to do with being a biological male,” snarked Trending Politics co-owner Colin Rugg.
Others joined in, echoing a growing wave of criticism.
“Second place is the real champion!” one person posted. “Good on her! This nonsense has to stop,” another added.
A blunt sign spotted at the meet read:
“The weakest men compete with girls, the weakest minds celebrate it.”
Another user chimed in:
I’m sick of this. All the fight for women’s rights is now gone by the same people who fought for women’s rights in the first place.”
String of controversies
The backlash is the latest in a string of controversies tied to transgender athletes competing in women’s events. Many point to previous high-profile incidents, including one in North Carolina that left lasting consequences.
Back in 2022, 17-year-old volleyball player Payton McNabb suffered a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a spike from a transgender player. Her mother later said:
“At the time, we weren’t allowed to speak up. We couldn’t say, ‘No, she’s not playing against a boy, it’s dangerous.’”
The McNabb case helped spur North Carolina lawmakers to pass legislation banning transgender athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams at the middle, high school, and college levels.
But not everyone is on board with that kind of policy. Over 400 current and former Olympic athletes signed a letter urging the NCAA not to enact similar bans, saying they wanted to be on the “right side of history” and asserting that sports should remain “for all.”
Meanwhile, Hernandez brushed off the outrage, calling it “ridiculous.”
“The mere fact that men compete against women is absurd,” one critic argued online. “Trans people should have their own league, and regular, normal people can have their traditional men’s and women’s sports.”
“Trans girls are girls”
But others defended the young athlete’s right to compete.
“She followed all the rules,” one user wrote. “If people don’t like it, the problem is with the rules, not with her.” Another said, “Trans girls are girls.” “Hernandez prevailed handily.”
Hernandez recently talked about the outpouring of criticism she has encountered over a season of track and field that has been both full of memorable finishes and times when she didn’t even place on the podium in an interview with Capital & Main.
Since you are an adult and I am still a child, your behavior betrays your character. “I don’t think you understand that this puts your idiotic claims to trash,” was all I could think. Because she is biologically male, she cannot be defeated. You no longer have evidence that I am unbeatable.
According to Capital & Main, a nonprofit organization that has won awards and covers important social, environmental, and economic concerns in California,
According to research, transgender athletes haven’t always fared better than their cisgender counterparts. Transgender women were actually shown to be less advantaged than cisgender women on a number of measures.
There is no indication that the problem will be resolved anytime soon. The battle over the future of women’s sports is far from done, with prominent athletes voicing their opinions on both sides and more governments attempting to impose prohibitions.
Additionally, it became much louder as a result of Reese Hogan’s silent protest from the platform.