United States President Donald Trump promised “large -scale fines” against California for allowing a transgender teenager to compete in a local athletics tournament, in which the student won several medals.
“A biological man competed in the women’s finals of the California State Championship, winning off, although I warned them not to do it,” Trump wrote at dawn on Tuesday (3) on his social network.
The president added that Governor Gavin Newsom “understands perfectly” that “fines on a large scale will be imposed.”
Trump signed a decree in early February banning the participation of trans girls and women in sporting events in the United States.
AB Hernandez, 16, won two gold and one silver medals, dividing them with their rivals under new rules adopted by the organizers to end the controversy around their participation in the athletics championship on Saturday in the city of Clovis, outside Fresno.
In the heel race, the young woman hit 1.70 meters in her first attempt and shared first place with two other athletes who got the same brand in her second attempt.
The three climbed the podium together according to the new rules announced last week by the California Interescolar Federation), which made the decision in response to criticism against its policy of allowing trans athletes to compete.
First, the ICF changed the rules of registration so that biological women were not excluded from the competition due to the participation of trans athletes.
Then the agency issued another change of rule – specifically turned to the events where Hernandez would compete – stipulating that any athlete who could not end on the podium behind a transgender athlete would receive a medal.
Hernandez competed in the heel, leap in distance and triple leap.
Last -minute changes in the rules occurred after days of controversy in which Hernandez was the target of Trump’s criticism on social networks.
Not to mention the transgender athlete, the Republican president threatened to retain federal funding from California in the future if she was allowed to compete in the tournament.
The Justice Department also began an investigation to find out if California had violated title IX, the law that prohibits sexual discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding.
