(The Center Square) \u2013 As state track and field championships commenced Friday at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., protesters set up across the street to take aim at transgender athletes competing in girls\u2019 sports.<\/p>\n
Those who spoke at the press conference in central California criticized the California Interscholastic Federation\u2019s 13-year-old policy to allow transgender athletes born as boys to compete as girls in the statewide organization\u2019s track and field championship events.<\/p>\n
The CIF policy that allows transgender athletes to compete as the sex they identify as, while it is now a years-old policy, is no less unpopular among the families and community members of Clovis, which is widely known as a conservative, historically agricultural city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout this month alone, Californians have watched three different male athletes compete in girls\u2019 CIF track and field events,\u201d said Sophia Laurie, outreach director for the California Family Council. \u201cToday, at the CIF state championships, once again, a male athlete is expected to take a top spot in three girls events. The message being sent to female athletes is clear: Your opportunities, your records, your placements and hard work comes second to males.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laurie and other speakers at the press conference across the street from the state track and field championships said that not only do female athletes compete against other athletes who were born male, but oftentimes also share locker rooms with them.<\/p>\n
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A sign in Clovis, Calif., urges the California Interscholastic Federation to allow only girls on girls’ teams, May 29, 2026. Photo:\u00a0Madeline Shannon \/ The Center Square<\/p>\n
\u201cCIF continues to allow boys to compete against our girls,\u201d Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diana Pearce said at the press conference. \u201cWhen our girls express how uncomfortable they are with boys in their locker rooms and in their sports, they are told they are the problem, and are bullied into silence and humiliated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The now 13-year-old policy, Policy 300D, allows transgender athletes to compete in sports consistent with their gender identity. The policy was adopted by the California Interscholastic Federation in 2013, according to an CIF document<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBiological males do not belong in girls\u2019 sports,\u201d Sonja Shaw, chair of the Chino Unified School District board and candidate for California superintendent of public Instruction, said at the press conference. \u201cThe fact that male athletes are here at CIF state championships in the girls events is a disgrace. It\u2019s diabolical.\u201d<\/p>\n