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Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights / Open Thread: (Take) Pride Update

Open Thread: (Take) Pride Update

by Anne Laurie|  June 3, 20259:05 pm| 23 Comments

This post is in: LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights, Open Threads, Sports

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Despite online outrage, the California state track meet was mostly just a track meet defector.com/despite-onli…

[image or embed]

— Defector (@defector.com) June 2, 2025 at 8:53 PM

The always insightful Diana Moskovitz, at Defector – “Despite Online Outrage, The California State Track Meet Was Mostly Just A Track Meet”:

Jurupa Valley High School’s AB Hernandez won first place in girls high jump and triple jump on Saturday night at the California Interscholastic Federation’s State Track & Field Championships. She also took second place in girls long jump, making it overall a great performance for the high school junior. After each win, Hernandez took the podium, received her medal, and smiled for photos along with her fellow competitors. She looked happy, because most people do after they win. As the sun sunk lower in the sky and the late afternoon turned into night, it would look to a casual observer watching on a livestream, which I did, like a typical high school track meet: The national anthem was played, there was a reminder about good sportsmanship, high school athletes competed in various disciplines, upcoming events were called out on the loudspeaker, and parents and friends cheered in the stands…

Though Hernandez has competed for years with the support of her local community, when two women began making noise online complaining about her being allowed to compete, they got a lot of attention and eventually caught Donald Trump’s eye. He issued a statement Tuesday about Hernandez, filled with inaccuracies, saying she was unbeatable (she has lost before) and had won everything (again, she has lost before). That same day, CIF issued its own statement, saying it would launch a pilot program to allow any cisgender female athlete who missed out on qualifying due to a transgender female athlete to compete anyway. Those new rules were also why on Saturday, every time Hernandez won a medal, she had to share the podium with someone else as a co-medalist.

The new rules also did nothing to assuage the people dead set on stopping Hernandez… Even though Hernandez had followed all the CIF rules in place, that did little to stop the anti-trans sentiments. On Friday, during qualifications, an airplane flew over the stadium carrying a banner that read “No boys in girls sports!”

The same reporter who got the video of the banner, Haley Sawyer, estimated the number of protestors there Friday at “roughly 10.”

You read that right—10. California is the largest state by population in the entire country with nearly 40 million people. Sure, some people have to work, some people are busy with childcare, or too frail to travel, or they’re students who have to study. But the math is the math. Out of a state with nearly 40 million people, just about 10 were so angry about Hernandez competing that they showed up at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Clovis, Fresno County. That’s the same Fresno County that has an estimated population of more than 1 million, is nearly equidistant to the state’s two biggest metro areas, and is easily accessible by car…

What those railing against Hernandez know is that in today’s decentralized information ecosystem, anger online wins and so their yelling must be covered, even though few protestors came. Meanwhile, the single biggest source of complaints about discrimination to the U.S. Department of Education are from disabled students who said they had been denied help they needed or felt mistreated, not people complaining about trans athletes. Data also shows the biggest danger posed to all high school athletes, regardless of gender, is dying of sudden cardiac arrest, not competing against trans athletes. Having emergency action plans and installing AEDs in high schools would save more lives, but little is said about this online compared to the trans athlete furor.

Despite it all, the actual athletes seemed pretty chill and normal on Saturday as I monitored from the live stream and watched the press coverage roll in. They are athletes, after all, and they know how to block out noise. It’s all smiles in the Associated Press photos. Wilson High School senior Loren Webster, who came in first in the long jump, told the Times as much, saying, “It wasn’t any other person I was worried about. I knew what I was capable of. I can’t control the uncontrollable.” Long Beach Poly High School senior Jillene Wetteland, who also took first in the high jump, told the Chronicle, “I love both of the people I tied with.” And River City High School senior Brooke White, who came in second on the long jump, said to the same reporter that it was an honor to share her podium with Hernandez…

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Reader Interactions

23Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    June 3, 2025 at 9:16 pm

    Good for her.

    ETA: And the people who didn’t hate her.

  2. 2.

    Ruckus

    June 3, 2025 at 9:23 pm

    I love to see jackoffs yelling and screaming about their petty bullshit. As an ex mental health counselor it gives me I’m not sure what, to know that there will always be a need for mental health counselors. They may never talk to people that have to have a cow over petty bullshit because those people almost always think that they are 100% right about everything, when they were the people that were almost always 100% wrong about everything. They just want to live in a different world than the one in front of them. Sort of like men playing with dolls at 40-60 years old, because dolls are cool.

  3. 3.

    Sister Golden Bear

    June 3, 2025 at 9:24 pm

    Thank you Anne.

    The SF Chronicle also had good coverage, I’ll see if I can gift link it.

  4. 4.

    satby

    June 3, 2025 at 9:32 pm

    Congratulations AB Hernandez! Great performance in spite all the hostility she was subjected to.

  5. 5.

    Dan B

    June 3, 2025 at 9:48 pm

    It’s amazing that there is such continued fear and hatred.  But the percentage of people who are bumfuck crazy remains small, fortunately.

  6. 6.

    cmorenc

    June 3, 2025 at 9:59 pm

    Hernandez is a junior in high school and therefore not yet of adult age.  To what extent has she physically transitioned, as opposed to just so far taking puberty blockers or else merely just self-identifying as a female?   The article states that Hernandez has the support of her local community.  Nothing is stated about whether Hernandez uses the M or F locker room to train or for meets, but leaves us to assume that if it’s the latter, her F teammates and their parents and community are cool with that, even if Hernandez hasn’t physically transitioned yet (beyond perhaps puberty blockers).

    More power to her for the courage to compete even when confronted with the hate of creeps.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    June 3, 2025 at 10:24 pm

    Good for her👏🏾👏🏾

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    June 3, 2025 at 10:30 pm

    Everything he touches withers (WaPo link).

    Sales of subscriptions for the coming season of programming at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are down by about $1.6 million, or roughly 36 percent, compared with last year.

    By this point in 2024, the center had generated $4,413,147 in revenue from selling subscriptions to its theater, dance, classical and other seasons of performances. This year, it has generated $2,656,524 as of June 1, plus $155,243 from a new mix-and-match package, according to internal data obtained by The Washington Post.

    The sales data was collected and shared by former Kennedy Center employees and confirmed by a current staff member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.… Source

  9. 9.

    Lyrebird

    June 3, 2025 at 10:34 pm

    Go AB!

    And cheers for your fellow competitors with a little class,

    with many many times more class and maturity than the creep in the White House!

  10. 10.

    Sure Lurkalot

    June 3, 2025 at 10:47 pm

    The very end of the Defector article:

    And River City High School senior Brooke White, who came in second on the long jump, said to the same reporter that it was an honor to share her podium with Hernandez.

    “Although the publicity she’s been receiving has been pretty negative, I believe she deserves publicity because she’s a superstar,” White said, “she’s a rockstar, she’s representing who she is.”

    Apparently, some people think AB Hernandez can jump so high and far because “she’s a man”. Obviously ANY 17 y.o. guy could win any event at a GIRLZ track meet, I mean that’s just common sense, amirite?

    They have no understanding that AB worked damn hard to excel. Brooke White knows what it takes, outclasses the haters.

  11. 11.

    prostratedragon

    June 3, 2025 at 10:59 pm

    VoteVets:

    🚨NEW: VoteVets slams decision to strip Harvey Milk’s name from Navy ship.

    “This isn’t just offensive—it’s a calculated act of disrespect.”

    It’s not about tradition. It’s about forcing out those who don’t fit Hegseth’s 1980s action figure fantasy of service.

    FULL STATEMENT ⬇️

  12. 12.

    Jackie

    June 3, 2025 at 11:03 pm

    @NotMax: 36% isn’t enough.

  13. 13.

    Tim in SF

    June 3, 2025 at 11:22 pm

    Hey! I’ve been watching you jackals post photos of your irises and I felt like a failure because I have a dozen or so planted out front on the sidewalk and NOT ONE gave me any kind of bloom. LO AND BEHOLD, one of them bloomed today! And it’s spectacular! And just in time for pride! Figures I would get the gay irises.

    Anyhoo, this one came from Schreiner’s Iris Gardens up in Oregon, which I visited last year.

    (PS: if you FB friend me, tell me you’re from here or I’ll delete the request)

  14. 14.

    Old School

    June 3, 2025 at 11:36 pm

    WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are set to attend the opening-night showing of the musical Les Misérables at the Kennedy Center next week, making a rare public appearance in Washington’s nightlife by visiting the cultural institution Trump controversially took over.

    The White House confirmed the first couple’s attendance to USA TODAY. But they won’t be seeing all of the musical’s cast members, some of whom plan to sit out of the show that night, CNN and the Washington Post reported.

  15. 15.

    prostratedragon

    June 3, 2025 at 11:43 pm

    @Jackie:  From the article it seems that much of that 36% is due to a fall in theater subscriptions, though every category is down. Theater is where the 🤡 interference has been most pernicious so far, though not having the Ailey company on the dance card is too silly to be anything but racially motivated. A big problem for the resident companies is staying viable through what is hopefully just a temporary trying time. Orchestras and opera choruses need to work together.

  16. 16.

    Sister Golden Bear

    June 3, 2025 at 11:58 pm

    Should be a gift link.

    Trans athlete embraced as California track and field champion by peers while adult activists duel

    The divisive discourse about Hernandez, whether on social media or at the intersection of Nees and Minnewawa avenues, tried to frame the junior as an outcast in the California track and field community. Protesters at the California Interscholastic Federation’s State Championships repeatedly argued that her inclusion in the girls division victimized those who competed against her.

    All that said, Brooke White was the happiest victim.

    A River City-West Sacramento senior, White shared the second-place podium for the long jump alongside Hernandez, each with their own runner-up medals, in accordance with the CIF’s new policy. Controversial as it was for conservatives and liberals alike, it offered an image of unity in the face of that division. White and Hernandez put an arm around the other, giddy as they posed for pictures side by side without a moment to consider the turmoil that surrounded them.

    “Sharing the podium was nothing but an honor,” White told the Chronicle. “Although the publicity she’s been receiving has been pretty negative, I believe she deserves publicity because she’s a superstar, she’s a rock star, she’s representing who she is.”…

    While grown men and women debated Hernandez’s success, her peers on the field didn’t hesitate to share laughs and wide smiles across the two-day event. White greeted Hernandez as a stranger Friday, and by Saturday, they were giggling together as fast friends.

    “As a part of the queer community, I want AB Hernandez to know that we all have her back,” White said. “It’s emotional, it gets people heated from all sides of the argument. But when I got here and I talked to AB Hernandez … I learned to knock out all of the negativity.

    “The negativity: It affects us, too.”…

    Hernandez was embraced by fellow athletes, families and coaches more than her mother, Nereyda, could have anticipated after the vitriol they faced from a reported crowd of 30 adults during a track meet at Yorba Linda High School three weeks earlier.

    “There’s just been so much support,” Nereyda said in an exclusive Sunday interview with the Chronicle. “I had coaches approach us yesterday, shake my hand. Parents, you know, they just wanted to let me know like, ‘Look, we’re not for that,’ and it felt good….

    Martial Yapo, an assistant coach at Santa Margarita Catholic in Orange County, said he was reminded of this when he woke up Saturday morning to a CNN segment on Hernandez’s inclusion in the state meet. It took him aback, thinking how Hernandez had been so quickly sensationalized — and how the meet itself fell short of the national hysteria exacerbated by the president.

    “Everybody’s supporting the athlete and coaching like normal business,” Yapo said. “We don’t feel like there’s any animosity in the warm-up area or anything like that. It’s only when you’re out there or you watch TV that you see all the noise.”

    A reminder that out 40 million CA residents only 10 anti-trans bigots showed up — and that’s literally more than the number high school trans athletes in the entire state.

  17. 17.

    prostratedragon

    June 4, 2025 at 12:24 am

    Democrat Keishan Scott, a 24-year-old minister and local elected official, won Tuesday’s special election for the South Carolina House in a 71-29 landslide, turning in one of the largest overperformances of the year.

  18. 18.

    Jackie

    June 4, 2025 at 1:15 am

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    A reminder that out 40 million CA residents only 10 anti-trans bigots showed up — and that’s literally more than the number high school trans athletes in the entire state.

    I read that article earlier today and thought of you. I was sooo happy she received such warm congratulations from her teammates and community! That’s what truly matters, and is so telling.

  19. 19.

    Gloria DryGarden

    June 4, 2025 at 3:19 am

    @Tim in SF: I just have one iris blooming. 3’ tall, pink. I posted it on Facebook

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    June 4, 2025 at 4:36 am

    Did someone say Iris?
    ;)

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    June 4, 2025 at 4:59 am

    I would love to listen in on this meeting. From Amichai Stein of the Jerusalem Post:

        Tom Barrack, Trump’s envoy for Syrian affairs and Ambassador to Turkiye, has arrived in Israel to meet with senior officials.

    The discussions will focus on affairs in Syria and the ongoing tensions between Israel and Turkiye.

    I guess I’ll have to settle for reports. There are a lot of eyes on this one.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    June 4, 2025 at 5:09 am

    @prostratedragon:

    Sweet.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    June 4, 2025 at 10:51 am

    @Tim in SF: Wowser, that’s a spectacular iris!~

    “Figures I would get the gay iris” was my first laugh of the day.  Much appreciated.

    But seriously, you’re from San Fransisco, based on reputation, would you expect anything less? :-)

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