Girls’ Volleyball Team Makes Bold Stand in California

Last Friday night, something important happened in Riverside County, California. A girls’ volleyball team from Riverside Poly High School chose to forfeit a game rather than play against another team that has a biological male competing as a girl. This was not an act of hate or anger. It was a stand for truth, fairness, and the safety of young women.

The team they were supposed to play was from Jurupa Valley High School. That team includes a transgender athlete named AB Hernandez, a biological male who now competes in girls’ sports. While the school officials gave no official reason for the forfeit, many parents and students have made it clear: they did this to protect the girls on the team and to speak out for fairness in women’s sports.

Fred Brayton, whose daughter plays for Riverside Poly, said it best: “This is not about hatred. Trans people have rights, but they do not have the right to play sports against the opposite sex.” Mr. Brayton’s words reflect what many Americans believe deep down. Boys and girls are different, not just in identity, but in biology. Those differences matter, especially in sports where strength and speed can make a big difference.

Our daughters train hard. They sacrifice time, energy, and effort to compete. They deserve a fair playing field. Letting biological males into girls’ sports is not fair. It’s not safe. And it’s certainly not what Title IX—the federal law meant to give girls equal opportunities in school sports—was ever meant to do.

One mother said she refused to let her daughter play that night. She feared for her daughter’s safety, and rightly so. We’ve already seen what can happen. In 2022, a young woman named Payton McNabb suffered permanent brain damage after being hit in the head by a powerful spike from a transgender athlete. That tragedy should have been a wake-up call to all of us.

Amanda Vickers, a school board member, said the girls made their decision because they didn’t want to end up like Payton. Can we blame them? These girls showed courage. They stood up for themselves in a world that too often tells them to be quiet and accept things that are wrong. Their quiet protest—the choice not to play—spoke louder than any chant or sign ever could.

The other side, of course, is trying to paint this as intolerance. AB Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, posted on social media about respecting current California law. But not all laws are just. Some laws go against common sense and the natural order of things. California’s law, which allows boys who identify as girls to compete in girls’ sports, is one of them.

Let’s be clear. No one hates AB Hernandez. No one is saying that AB doesn’t deserve kindness or respect. But respect goes both ways. And when one person’s rights come at the cost of everyone else’s safety and fairness, something has gone wrong.

We are witnessing a battle for truth in our schools, our sports, and our society. Brave students, like those at Riverside Poly, are taking a stand. They are saying, “Enough.” They are asking adults to listen, to protect them, and to do what is right.

It is time for our country to face reality. Boys are boys. Girls are girls. And in sports, as in life, those differences matter. If we continue down this path of denying biology in favor of ideology, it is our daughters who will pay the price. But when young people take a stand, as these girls did, there is still hope.

Let us honor their courage. Let us support their cause. And let us return to a time when truth, fairness, and common sense guided our schools and our nation.