'No Boys In Girls' Sports' Banner Flies Above Cali Track Meet
A banner plane bearing the words "No Boys In Girls' Sports" flew over a high school track and field championship meet in Clovis, California on Friday.
The banner was seen as a direct protest against the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) policy of allowing male athletes to compete in the girls’ division of high school sports.
The flying of the banner over the meet was organized by two women-led advocacy groups: The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) and Women Are Real.
The CIF is no stranger to controversy, as just last week, trans high school athlete, AB Hernandez, took first place in multiple events at the Southern Section Masters Meet.
Following Hernandez's domination at the meet, the CIF rolled out a controversial "pilot entry process," which invites displaced girls back into the competition, but only while still allowing a male athlete to remain eligible for the championship.
A follow-up policy released the next day went further, proposing "if necessary" duplicate medals for female athletes retroactively bumped from podium placements by a male competitor.
These decisions are clearly an attempt by the CIF and California state government at-large to backpedal and play defense following the intense backlash they - along with the parents of AB Hernandez - received for allowing this all to take place.
Representatives from both advocacy groups have expressed their displeasure with this latest milquetoast piece of legislation.
"This is not equality. This is appeasement," said Julie Lane, spokesperson for Women Are Real. "Girls should not need a workaround or a second-tier medal ceremony to participate in their own sport."
"CIF is rewriting biology and Title IX with public relations," added Cynthia Cravens, also of Women Are Real. "This banner says what millions are thinking: Boys do not belong in girls’ sports."
"California is beginning to reap the consequences of defying federal law and brazenly harming girls," said Kim Jones, co-founder of ICONS. "How long will Governor Newsom and legislators in this state continue to prioritize granting a few boys the right to take opportunities and recognition away from girls? Not one single boy should ever be in girls’ sports. It's the easiest problem in the world to solve—and the most brazen public 'screw you' to female athletes by Democrat leadership. Since when do we tell a single boy he is more important than every girl in the competition? That he has the right to ruin sports for all of them? It’s time for California to pay, and it’s time to right these wrongs."
California Governor Gavin Newsome has still managed to remain silent on the matter, despite the very loud and very public calls for change.
Newsome famously went on conservative pundit Charlie Kirk's podcast back in March and agreed with Kirk that men competing in women's sports was an issue, calling it a "matter of fairness," before hilariously pivoting.
Why so silent all of a sudden, Governor Newsome? I am sure the parents of these girls would love an explanation.
Now is as good a time as any to speak up on the matter.