Trump Administration Goes After Fresno-Area Track and Field Competition Over Trans Athlete

Heading into this weekend’s State Track and Field Championships, the California Interscholastic Federation made a rule change to appease the Trump administration’s furor over a trans athlete being allowed to participate.

This weekend is the California Interscholastic Federation’s high school State Track and Field Championships in Clovis, California, an event which, to be honest, we do not normally cover. But the stakes at this competition are incredibly high this year, for reasons that have very little to do with track and field.

The New York Times reports that the Trump administration is ginning up outrage that a trans female athlete is competing, so much outrage that they’re planning a full-on Department of Justice investigation into the matter. The administration is also threatening to withhold “large scale” federal funding from the entire state of California over the matter.

Visalia’s KMPH reports that Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce jumped into the dispute, hoping to sway Gavin Newson to step in and ban the high school student from competing. “Just this morning, President Trump posted on social media about our state finals saying that what is about to happen here in Clovis is ‘not fair’ and reminded everyone Gov. Newsom said that too,” Pearce said in a Tuesday statement. “A biological male will be competing against our girls and he is favored to win the state title in at least one event.”

“Is favored to win?” Are oddsmakers really setting favorites on high school track and field competitions in the Fresno area, or did Diane Pearce just make that up out of whole cloth?

Either way, the response has been fairly swift. Sacramento’s KCRA reports that the California Interscholastic Federation has crafted a new compromise rule that would allow the trans athlete to compete, but would not allow any “biological female” student-athletes to be eliminated from competition by that trans athlete.

“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,” the federation says in their new policy. “The CIF believes this pilot entry process achieves the participation opportunities we seek to afford our student-athletes.”

Governor Gavin Newsom, known recently for cozying up to right-wing anti-trans sentiment, seems pleased with the compromise move.

“CIF’s proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness,” Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement. To Politico. “The Governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.”

But will this work to appease Trump and his administration? I’m guessing it won’t! While conservatives argue this is about protecting women athletes from discrimination, the political game here seems more about using the trans community as a wedge political issue, and punishing states that acknowledge that trans people exist. And if that’s the goal, reasonable compromises might not be possible, or even desired.

Related: Judge Won’t Block San Jose State From Conference Volleyball Tournament Over Alleged Transgender Player [SFist]

Image: A group of young women on the starting line, focused and ready to sprint at full speed. Training starts for their next track and field competition. (Getty Images)