A contentious school board meeting in Riverside, California, drew large opposing protests outside the district office Thursday night. One side argued to "Save Girls Sports," wearing T-shirts with that message, while the other side came equipped with transgender pride flags and signs. 

Members of a women's prayer group that attended the protests on the "Save Girls Sports" side has alleged the pro-transgender side harassed them during the event and interrupted their attempts at public speaking and filming content.

The prayer group, Young Women for America (YWA)'s Inland Empire chapter in California, alleged pro-transgender activists showered them with insults Thursday in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

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"Members of the pro-LGBTQ groups started heckling and harassing the people in line who were speaking in opposition of their values. Some of these adult protesters were even coming up to the young girls that were going to be speaking and were yelling at them close to their face," YWA Inland Empire Chapter President Tori Hitchcock alleged. 

Hitchcock claims the harassment forced them to move their prayer circle away from the offices. 

"Seeing how quick these protesters were wanting to make a scene, we decided that we needed to wait and move our prayer rally away from the main lot for safety reasons. We were able to find a spot that was removed but overlooking the event, which allowed us to really visualize what we were praying for. We spent time also praying over the young female athletes who were there to speak. Many of them were the students who were ostracized by their school," Hitchcock said. 

Hitchcock did not name an specific individuals in her harassment allegations. 

Other witnesses present Thursday have provided their accounts of the events to Fox News Digital. 

Julianne Fleischer, an attorney for the religious liberties legal firm Advocates for Faith & Freedom, was at the protests Thursday to conduct a pre-meeting press conference that included a parent whose family had been affected by a transgender athlete competing on a girls sports team. 

"It was initially peaceful, but the LGBTQ activists became increasingly more vocal and were trying to stir up agitation by heckling people," Fleischer said.  

Fleischer also claims the pro-trans activists were using megaphones to drown out the sound of normal conversation.  

"The LGBTQ activists were screaming and blowing their megaphones so as to prevent SGS supporters from participating in media interviews. We moved media away from the LGBTQ activists to a more secluded area so the activists couldn’t interfere with SGS supporters’ ability to talk to the media," Fleischer added.

California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt told Fox News Digital he also witnessed the pro-trans activists actively interrupting the pro-girls protests and interviews.

"They had bullhorns, and every time someone used a camera to do a video, they would jump behind and make noise," Burt said. 

ENRAGED PARENTS SCREAM AT SCHOOL BOARD FOR ALLOWING TRANS ATHLETE IN GIRLS' SPORTS: ‘TEACH THEM SELF CONTROL!’

One anonymous parent told Fox News Digital about witnessing a child being bombarded with vulgar insults by pro-trans protesters after the meeting.

"My 16-year old son and a few others were standing outside after speaking when a group of the LGBTQ community intentionally walked by them pointing at each one of them saying, ‘FU FU FU,’" the anonymous parent said. 

Footage reviewed by Fox News Digital showed a sizable pro-LGBTQ presence at the event. The limited footage reviewed showed the protesters standing calmly. Multiple accounts have suggested the pro-LGBTQ protesters outnumbered the "Save Girls Sports" protesters. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) for verification but has not received a response. 

Thursday's RUSD board meeting was anticipated nationally amid an ongoing controversy at Martin Luther King High School, which has since spread to other schools in the district. A transgender athlete on the girls cross-country team prompted students to wear the shirts that said "Save Girls Sports" in protest. But those students were punished by administrators, some with detention. A lawsuit filed by two girls cross-country runners alleges the school compared the T-shirts to swastikas. 

But the student body responded in support of their biologically female classmates by wearing the shirts in droves of hundreds at a time. Many of the students posted photos on social media of them wearing the shirts together, and some were sitting in detention. 

Eventually, the school stopped disciplining students after more than 400 Martin Luther King High School students showed up wearing the shirts Dec. 11.

Sources have told Fox News Digital students at Arlington High School, Riverside Polytechnical High School and Romona High School have also been seen wearing the shirts at their respective schools. 

Ryan Starling, the father of a girl at the school who is involved in a lawsuit against the school, spoke at the press conference outside the district office Thursday. The lawsuit alleges Starling's daughter, Taylor, lost her varsity spot to a transgender athlete and that her T-shirt to express opposition to the athlete competing was compared to a swastika.

"It's just heartbreaking to see what my daughter has gone through this season," Starling said. 

"This is unfair. This is completely unfair. It breaks my heart as a father to see my daughter go through this and have it stripped away from her, have her come up to me and just hug me. And I can't do anything about it. So, it's just heartbreaking." 

The father of the other girl involved in the lawsuit, Dan Slavin, previously told Fox News Digital he "couldn't even digest" hearing that his daughter's shirt was compared to a swastika. 

"I didn't even know how to digest that right away," Slavin said. "There were no words. I still can't even digest it to this day. It's unfathomable. It's strange. It's weird. I'm sure there were better illustrations they could use instead of that one." 

In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital, RUSD said it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law.

"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law, which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.

"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento." 

California has had laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports since 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

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A school board meeting descended into a parade of competing hysterical rants between concerned parents and transgender activists on Thursday night amid a national controversy over a transgender athlete on the cross-country team.

The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) held a board meeting at its office in Riverside, California, to address concerns over the student-athletes at Martin Luther King High School and students being punished for wearing shirts that read "Save Girls' Sports." 

The meeting came after weeks of build-up as hundreds of students at Martin Luther King High School and other schools in the district wore the T-shirts against the school's wishes. Hundreds of students have rallied to wear the T-shirts every Wednesday, and many were placed in detention for wearing them, until the schools gave up on disciplining the students the week of Dec. 11. 

Ahead of the meeting, competing protests between pro-transgender activists and "Save Girls' Sports" activists rallied outside the RUSD District Office. 

Once the meeting began, speakers were invited to share their thoughts on the situation. Many of the parents who spoke out against the district for allowing the trans athlete to compete with girls came wearing the T-shirts themselves. 

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One of the first parents to speak out against the district for allowing trans inclusion was a mother identified only as Sandy R. The mother hysterically complained about her name being revealed to the pro-trans activists outside the assembly room. She feared being "doxxed" for her stances and said she intends to file a harassment complaint.

Sandy then lambasted the entire board for defying Title IX in favor of California State law. 

Another parent pointed out that the school district's science curriculum even includes text books that teach the genetic differences between biological males and females. The mother brought out the school's ninth-grade biology textbook and read a passage that explained that males are born with the XY chromosomes while females are born with XX chromosomes. 

She then held up photos of the students who were punished for wearing shirts that read "XX (does not equal) XY."

"This is what you did to students who wore the shirt I'm wearing tonight, for claiming a biological fact that's in your textbook, that's part of your curriculum. Are we going to put tape on the textbooks next? Is that what's going to happen, we're not going to teach science?" she yelled. "You are denying biological facts to not hurt someone's feelings, and that's not okay!" 

The mother then referenced an allegation in a recent lawsuit filed by two of the school's girls' cross-country runners that the school compared their T-shirts to swastikas. 

Another mother, who was only identified as Colleen, was already screaming before she approached the podium, criticizing the board for allowing pro-trans activists in the office to cheer for pro-trans sentiment, and she compared it to their handling of young males who want to transition to female sports for a competitive advantage.

"Your job is to teach these people self-control, and you're not doing that!" she yelled. "It's all about their self-esteem, and you're setting them up for failure! They're not going to have the world handed to them. The world's not going to adjust because ‘I can’t succeed in this sport, so now I'm going to join this sport because I can do better there. It's ridiculous! Do your job! Teach these children self-control before it's too late!"

Later, a mother named Maria Karillo began her speech by warning all children in the room to leave. She then recited sexually explicit lines from school-approved books available at RUSD middle schools to make a point, before lambasting the school for labeling the concerned parents as "agitators, MAGA disruptors."

"We are parents here who care for our children, and we are using our constitutional right to speak to you guys, the leaders of our community about our children's issues," she said. "I want to know why the teacher's union is sending us emails for calling us cruel." 

One mother named Patty Clauda, who spoke in Spanish with the assistance of an English translator, began her tirade by mocking the school board for not knowing the difference between a man and a woman before expressing fear of girls having to share locker rooms with biological males.

"They are changing in front of men!" she said through the translator.

FATHER OF FEMALE RUNNER FORCED TO COMPETE WITH TRANS ATHLETE SHARES FURY OF SITUATION: 'CAN'T EVEN DIGEST IT'

At the end of her tirade, Clauda abandoned use of her translator to speak in English directly to the board, screaming at the top of her lungs. 

"What I actually find more concerning is that there are actual biological women standing in front of me, and you are not advocating for the young ladies in this school district, and you are allowing these young ladies to be mistreated, harassed and discriminated! You are creating a hostile environment for these children to get their education! Shame on all of you!" Clauda screamed.

Multiple concerned parents called for the resignation of Superintendent Renee Hill during their respective speeches. 

At one point, a female student-athlete even got the chance to speak and became emotional as she expressed the fact that she, as a biological female, has no realistic chance to compete with biological males.

"In no universe will the most-dedicated woman beat the most-dedicated man," she said as she choked up. 

However, pro-transgender activists were also given the opportunity to speak. Multiple speakers who expressed support for trans inclusion thanked the board for allowing the trans athlete to compete with girls and encouraged it to continue to enable and protect that athlete. 

One trans activist event went so far as to make the false claim that the XY chromosome is disappearing from the human gene pool and that all humans will eventually be born with the XX chromosome. 

Many of the pro-trans speeches were met with high-pitched cheers and the waiving of LGBTQ pride flags by those in attendance. 

California has had laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports since 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital, RUSD said it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law.

"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.

The school said those who are upset by it should direct their anger to state and federal lawmakers. 

"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento," the statement said. 

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San Jose State University has acknowledged a recent mass exodus of volleyball players who entered the transfer portal after a controversy-riddled season involving a trans athlete on the team. 

The university provided a statement to Fox News Digital in which it expressed "respect" for the recent wave of players who have opted to transfer. "Student athletes have the ability to make decisions about their college athletic careers, and we have the utmost respect for that," the statement read.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that seven of the team's players have entered the transfer portal. 

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The seven players who are transferring will be leaving the team after a season that included eight forfeited matches, regular police protection, national scrutiny and internal turmoil between players and coaches. One player even received threats of physical harm amid the controversy.

Head coach Todd Kress even spoke about how the 2024 season was one of the "most difficult" of his life after the team's loss in the conference final to Colorado State, in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

"This has been one of the most difficult seasons I’ve ever experienced, and I know this is true as well for many of our players and the staff who have been supporting us all along. Maintaining our focus on the court and ensuring the overall safety and well-being of my players amid the external noise have been my priorities," Kress said. 

The transgender player, Blaire Fleming, is out of eligibility after completing a fourth collegiate season in 2024. The team's season ended in the Mountain West Conference championship game after it advanced to the title game by virtue of a forfeit from Boise State in the semifinal round. Boise State previously forfeited two regular season games to San Jose State amid the controversy involving Fleming, accounting for three of its seven conference wins via forfeit this year. 

A loss to Colorado State in the conference final ended the season and prevented the controversy from slipping into the NCAA tournament. The loss effectively ended Fleming's collegiate career.

In September, co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA alleging the program withheld knowledge about Fleming's birth gender from her and other players on the team. Slusser alleged she was made to share changing and sleeping spaces with Fleming without knowing that Fleming was a biological male. 

Slusser, along with several other players in the Mountain West, filed a separate lawsuit against the conference and San Jose State in November over Fleming's presence. That lawsuit included testimony from former San Jose State volleyball players Alyssa Sugai and Elle Patterson alleging they were passed over for scholarships in favor of Fleming. 

That lawsuit also alleges that San Jose State players spoke up about an alleged scheme by Fleming to have Slusser spiked in the face with a volleyball in a game against Colorado State on Oct. 3. Slusser was not spiked in the face in that game, and an investigation by the Mountain West concluded without finding sufficient evidence of the alleged plot.

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

Assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended by the program in early November after she filed a Title IX complaint against the university for showing favoritism toward Fleming over the other players, especially Slusser. Batie-Smoose's complaint also included allegations of Fleming's plot to have Slusser spiked in the face. 

Slusser previously told Fox News Digital that Batie-Smoose's dismissal severely impacted the morale of the team.

"After we found out that she was released, a lot of the team just kind of broke down and was kind of freaking out, and even one of my teammates was like, ‘I don’t feel safe anymore,' because there's no one now that we feel like we can go and talk to about our concerns or our actual feelings and can actually speak freely in front of," Slusser said.

Slusser added that she and other players lost trust in the coaches, including head coach Kress. 

"You can't truly voice how you're feeling without them just trying to cover it up or act like it's all OK. With Melissa, you could voice how you felt, and she could comfort you and validate your feelings and at least make you feel heard compared to the other coaches," Slusser said.

Kress also blamed the team that forfeited for igniting backlash against his team, as each forfeit brought about more controversy and media attention.

"Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this season. To be clear, we did not celebrate a single win by forfeiture. Instead, we braced for the fallout. Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program." 

However, these issues did not stop the players from at least having some fun on what was their final road trip as San Jose State Spartans for most of them. 

Slusser previously told Fox News Digital that the team went out to a magic show together when they traveled to Las Vegas for the Mountain West tournament, and even had a team Thanksgiving meal together at the team hotel with takeout from a local diner with many of their families. 

However, that was not enough to keep the seven players who have entered the transfer portal attached to the program, as the team will be facing a major roster turnover as it looks to rebound on the court and in its reputation in 2025. 

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The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) in California hosted a board meeting Thursday amid a controversy over a transgender cross country runner at Martin Luther King High School and students being reprimanded for protesting the athlete's participation.

The board meeting will address recent allegations in a lawsuit that school administrators compared "Save Girls' Sports" T-shirts to swastikas.

Protesters gathered outside the RUSD District Office, advocating for and against transgender inclusion. 

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Video footage of the meeting provided by parents to California Family Outreach Director Sophia Lorey showed a crowd of people hoisting the transgender pride flag and wearing shirts with similar colors. 

Lorey told Fox News Digital there were a few people outside the venue wearing the "Save Girls' Sports" T-shirts, but they were outnumbered by the pro-transgender activists. 

The California Family Council, alongside the religious rights law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom, held a press conference outside the district office ahead of the board meeting addressing the ongoing controversy.

Ryan Starling, the father of a girl at the school named Taylor who is involved in a lawsuit against the school, spoke at the press conference. The lawsuit alleges Taylor lost her varsity spot to a transgender athlete and that her T-shirt to express opposition to the athlete competing was compared to a swastika. 

"It's just heartbreaking to see what my daughter has gone through this season," Starling said. 

FATHER OF FEMALE RUNNER FORCED TO COMPETE WITH TRANS ATHLETE SHARES FURY OF SITUATION: 'CAN'T EVEN DIGEST IT'

"This is unfair. This is completely unfair. It breaks my heart as a father to see my daughter go through this and have it stripped away from her, have her come up to me and just hug me. And I can't do anything about it. So, it's just heartbreaking." 

An attorney representing Taylor in the lawsuit, Julianne Fleischer, previously told Fox News Digital the rhetoric from school administrators is "incredibly dangerous." 

"When you have adults that compare a message ‘Save Girls' Sports’ that promotes equality, fairness, common sense — when you have adults that compare that message to a swastika, which represents the genocide of millions of Jews, really, there are no words. I don't know how you respond to that," Fleischer said. 

Hundreds of students at Martin Luther King High School began to wear the T-shirts every Wednesday. The school responded by enacting a dress code that resulted in many of those students being sent to detention. But that didn't stop them. The students kept wearing the shirts weekly.

The school recently stopped enforcing its dress code for the shirts.

Sources have told Fox News officials at nearby Arlington High School, Riverside Polytechnical High School and Romona High School have also seen students wearing them. 

In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital, RUSD said it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law.

"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law, which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.

"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento." 

California has had laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports since 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

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NCAA President Charlie Baker claimed TV ratings for the NCAA women's volleyball tournament rose "100%" this year during an interview on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show" Thursday. 

The surge comes just one year after the 2023 tournament saw a 115% increase from 2022. 

"The ratings this year grew a little too, by another 100%," Baker boasted during the interview. "People love to see competition. People love to see young people compete, and we got to stop talking about sports other than football and basketball as ‘non-revenue.’" 

Baker celebrated the surge in viewers ahead of the semifinals Thursday night, when Pittsburgh takes on Louisville and Penn State takes on Nebraska. 

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This year's tournament nearly had an appearance by San Jose State amid a national controversy that overshadowed much of the college volleyball season. San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser has an active lawsuit against the NCAA and leads another lawsuit with several other players against the Mountain West Conference. 

The lawsuits allege Slusser and other players were forced to compete with transgender player Blaire Fleming without ever being told of Fleming's natural birth sex. The controversy and the transgender athlete's continued presence on the team throughout the season resulted in forfeits of seven regular-season matches and a conference tournament semifinal. 

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

It was an unprecedented string of forfeits in the sport's history. The backlash to the situation resulted in a threat against Slusser and added police protection for the team at all home and away games this year, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

The controversy even drew criticism from Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall in October. 

San Jose State previously confirmed to Fox News Digital the team did not notify any opponents on its schedule of the situation involving Fleming throughout the season, only giving notification to other schools of needed extra security. 

 police protection The inclusion of the transgender player was even challenged in court. Slusser and other players involved in her lawsuit sought to have Fleming removed from the Mountain West tournament.

Colorado District Judge Kato Crews allowed Fleming to play in the tournament, ruling the plaintiffs’ request for an emergency delay "was not reasonable" and "would risk confusion and upend months of planning and would prejudice, at a minimum, [San Jose State] and other teams participating in the tournament."

So Fleming, Slusser and the other SJSU Spartans went to Las Vegas for the tournament and even got a bye in the first round by virtue of six conference games forfeited by opponents. 

Boise State had already forfeited two regular-season meetings to San Jose State amid the controversy because the university's home state of Idaho has an executive order in place to bar transgender athletes from women's sports. So, after Boise State beat Utah State in the quarterfinal round, the Broncos forfeited a third time in the semifinal to send San Jose State to the championship match. 

Colorado State defeated San Jose State in the final, keeping Fleming and the Spartans out of the NCAA tournament.

After that match, Spartans head coach Todd Kress provided a statement to Fox News Digital.

"Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our student-athletes, our coaching staff and many associated with our program," Kress said.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he plans to double the number of state jobs that will no longer require a college degree — joining states like Minnesota, Virginia and Pennsylvania, which have already dropped degree requirements for most public jobs. 

Newsom unveiled his Master Plan for Career Education framework on Monday, which included eliminating the college degree requirement for 30,000 jobs in the state.

The Democratic governor plans to double the number by removing the requirement for an additional 30,000 in the coming years in an overall effort to "help Californians translate their skills and knowledge into real progress toward a degree or career."

"Every Californian deserves the opportunity to build real-life skills and pursue a fulfilling career — including those that don’t require college degrees," Newsom said in a statement. "California is working to ensure that every person has what they need to get a well-paying, long-lasting job so we can build an economy for the future that supports all families."

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP LAUNCHES SIX-FIGURE AD BUY AGAINST NEWSOM'S ‘CLIMATE LEADERSHIP’

The framework also includes plans to establish "Career Passports" for citizens that will create a digital record of their skills and abilities for job applications. 

Veterans will also see new benefits, with the plan allowing them to gain college credit for their military experience.

EPA GRANTS CALIFORNIA PERMISSION TO BAN GAS CAR SALES BY 2035

Reducing the emphasis on needing a college degree to secure a career has been endorsed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump. Musk recently stated that he believes "the value of a college education is somewhat overweighted."

"Too many people spend four years, accumulate a ton of debt and often don't have useful skills that they can apply afterwards. I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands, and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters and that's a lot more important than having incremental political science majors," Musk said while on the campaign trail for Trump. "I think we should not have this idea that in order to be successful you need a four-year college degree."

Newsom's framework was released just months after a report found that the majority of students at for-profit colleges never graduate, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. The report found that only 36% of students graduate in four years at California State University, while 62% graduate within six years. 

The elimination of college degree requirements for state jobs has received bipartisan support in recent years. 

Maryland, under Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, became the first state in the nation to eliminate degree requirements for most state jobs in 2022, setting the stage for more than a dozen other states to follow in his footsteps with similar orders.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued an executive order in 2023 to establish that 92% of state government jobs would no longer require a college degree, a move that received praise from Republican state lawmakers who said the decision was "a step in the right direction."

Additionally, the 2024 GOP platform framework, released during the presidential campaign cycle, stated that "Republicans will support the creation of additional, drastically more affordable alternatives to a traditional four-year college degree."

The Biden administration has officially granted California permission to ban new gas car sales in the state by 2035. 

California set a strict emissions standard that would ban new gas cars in the state by 2035, but officials needed to obtain a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to proceed with the mandate.

The EPA on Wednesday announced that it would be approving two waivers, under the Clean Air Act, that grants California permission to phase out gas cars in the state — one of President Biden's final acts pushing the auto industry into the green energy sector. 

One waiver grants California's near future request to mandate that 35% of new cars and light-duty trucks sales be zero emissions by 2026 and achieve 90% below current emissions by 2027.

BIDEN EPA MAKES FIRST-EVER CLIMATE CHANGE ARREST

The other EPA waiver allows California officials to mandate that all new car sales be zero-emission within the decade — the most strict EV mandate in the country.

However, the waivers could soon be revoked by President-elect Trump, who is reportedly planning to rescind both federal EV requirements and any waiver issued for California by the Biden administration.

"Fresh off imposing his insane, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, Crooked Joe Biden is preparing to slaughter the remnants of the U.S. auto-industry by approving California’s waiver request outlawing the sale of all gasoline-powered automobiles," incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital during the campaign.

FIVE WAYS TRUMP COULD DISMANTLE BIDEN'S CLIMATE AGENDA

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said that the waivers will "protect its [California] residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks."

However, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers CEO and President Chet Thompson described the mandate as "unlawful."

"Contrary to claims on the campaign trail that they would never tell Americans what kinds of cars we have to drive, the Biden-Harris EPA just did exactly that by greenlighting California’s ban on sales of all new gas and traditional hybrid vehicles," Thompson said in a statement. "These policies will harm consumers — millions of whom don’t even live in California — by taking away their ability to buy new gas cars in their home states and raising vehicle and transportation costs."

An environmental group is calling out Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's climate leadership in a six-figure battleground state ad buy which claims his policies in California have "significantly undermined climate progress."

While running for governor in 2018, Newsom said he would shut down the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in California – the location of the largest methane leak in U.S. history. "I'm fully committed to doing that," Newsom told a reporter when asked if he would shut down the facility. "The question is how quickly can we do that, but my commitment is to make that happen. We need to be more aggressive than we have been."

Newsom added that he was "unequivocally" committed to shutting it down, but environmental groups are calling out the governor after allowing the facility to remain open six years later. 

Food & Water Action, the political and lobbying arm of Food & Water Watch advocating against climate change, announced on Monday a $100,000 ad buy against Newsom across four battleground states – Nevada, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Michigan.

GAVIN NEWSOM GRILLED OVER HEFTY PRICE TAG TO HELP ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ CALIFORNIA: ‘TOTAL WASTE’

The ad buy specifically targets Newsom's leadership on the climate, specifically for not following through on his campaign promise regarding the Aliso Canyon facility.

CALIFORNIA REPARATIONS BILLS KILLED AS NEWSOM SOUGHT TO AVOID APPEARING ‘TOO PROGRESSIVE'

"Americans are looking for leadership to resist Trump’s assault on our climate. Someone who follows through and won’t back down," the ad says. "Gov. Newsom promised to shut down Aliso Canyon, the site of the largest gas blowout in U.S. history. A public health disaster. But his public utilities commission is considering keeping it open indefinitely – just like the oil and gas industry wants. Climate leadership? We’re looking for it." 

However, in a statement shared with Fox News Digital, Daniel Villaseñor, spokesperson for Newsom, said that "the Governor’s energy policy is ambitious, not reckless." 

"We are committed to safely closing Aliso Canyon without harming working families with skyrocketing utility bills," the spokesperson said. "No governor has done more to accelerate our transition to clean and renewable energy, but it would be irresponsible to close Aliso Canyon before demand for natural gas declines. That’s a recipe for precisely the same price spikes we've seen in the gasoline market."

Villaseñor added that Newsom "wants to see Aliso Canyon phased out, but not at the cost of enormous price increases for working families and our ability to keep the lights on." The California Public Utilities Commission is planning to meet on Dec. 19 to discuss the future of the facility.

The environmental group claims that Newsom is trying to appear as a climate change champion, but that his record in California suggests otherwise.

"Governor Newsom wants to position himself as a national leader on climate and in opposing Trump, but he can’t be a credible national leader if his own house is not in order," Mitch Jones, deputy director of Food & Water Action, said in a press release. 

"While Newsom has taken some important steps on oil drilling, other policies have significantly undermined climate progress. These include undermining rooftop solar, embracing industry-backed plans like dirty biogas and carbon capture, and failing so far to keep his promise to close Aliso Canyon," Jones added.

While there is still a push from environmental groups to shut down the facility, it remains California’s largest underground natural gas storage facility and its operation has helped the state avoid potential energy price increases, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The ads were notably launched in battleground states amid months of speculation that Newsom could potentially launch a presidential bid in 2028.

Newsom was a top surrogate for President Biden during his re-election bid, and was floated as a leading candidate to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket before the president dropped out of the race. 

The governor's second term in Sacramento will finish at the end of next year, right around the time the 2028 presidential election will start to heat up.

The hard work and vision of a top policy and advocacy group in the America First movement helped make the difference in the 2024 presidential election, as several of its chairmen prepare to join the new Trump administration, a top official said.

America First Works executive director Ashley Hayek told Fox News in a Monday interview that her group has succeeded in focusing on popular policies from the first Trump administration and bringing those to state governments.

As the 2024 race heated up, Hayek said, America First Works turned to voter turnout as its plan to continue the prevalence of the political movement’s message.

"How do we educate people on these policies even more and mobilize voters?" she recalled asking.

"So we did a major study and analysis of the over 3,100 counties across the country, and we identified 21 key counties that we knew would be really important to be successful. And keep in mind that these are states that some were blue, some were red, some were purple, but some of the states were called in favor of Joe Biden in 2020 by only a 10,000 vote advantage," she said.

MCCORMICK-CASEY RECOUNT TOPS $1 MILLION

The initiative, nicknamed "Project 19" after the original 19 counties it targeted, sought to bring out to the polls low- and no-propensity voters. The latter is largely unique in the campaigning realm: seeking out voters technically considered "active" on state rolls but who have not voted in the past four cycles.

It not only targeted counties in swing states or reliably conservative states, but also in blue states like New York and New Jersey. In the latter, Trump came within four points of flipping it red for the first time this century, while a majority of New York’s counties voted for the Republican but were outweighed by the five boroughs, Erie County (Buffalo) and a couple others.

"I think it's kind of no secret when you look at any of the major media markets and the counties that those touch – look at Phoenix – that's Maricopa County, Las Vegas, it's Clark County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, these are major urban areas, but they all have collar counties as well that become battlegrounds for both parties."

"And when we were on the ground, we would see, from time to time, Kamala Harris door-knockers, not as often as we thought we would," Hayek said.

The group’s election integrity work led them to target voters in places like Bucks County, Pennsylvania – where the RNC had launched a lawsuit after early voters were turned away from the Doylestown elections office.

"We were able to message directly to voters saying, ‘Hey, stay in line, don't get out of line,'" she said.

"We would call ahead to find out how long the line was for some of our elderly folks who couldn't wait in line that long."

"Those are the types of tactics just making it more accessible to vote. That's what conservatives want to do. We want to make it easier to vote, harder to cheat. That's been our mantra the entire time."

FIVE KEY PA COUNTIES THIS ELECTION

Through its voter outreach operations, Hayek said her group’s canvassers noticed a shift in pro-Harris activity from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt – noting the latter had been President Biden’s strategy.

Hayek suggested Harris shifted to shoring up areas that had been in Biden’s pocket because her lack of "strategic messaging" was not resonating in those places as his once did.

A California native, Hayek said her group is also very involved in the Golden State despite its blue bent.

"I do think you're seeing more of a cultural shift. I do think that we're going to have to do things at a more local level in the state of California, and we're going to have to start working together in a lot better ways," she said.

With crime and taxation continuing to plague the elector-rich state, Hayek said she hopes to see America First Works’ work there continue to make inroads, similar to how former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., got relatively close to unseating Gov. Kathy Hochul in New York by focusing on issues and eschewing hyper-partisanship.

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America First Works’ partner group, America First Policy Institute, has since seen at least four of its leaders tapped for roles in the new administration, including Zeldin.

Co-founders Brooke Rollins and Linda McMahon are agriculture and education secretary-designates, respectively, while Zeldin and fellow co-chairman ex-Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., are also primed for White House roles in 2025.

"I think this is a really exciting time not just for America First Works, but for all Americans," Hayek said.

"And one of the things that was really important to us was having conversations with voters… so we made sure to collect information about what policies people cared about the most: is it the economy, is it the border, is it education? So to be able to continue those conversations throughout 2025, 2026 and beyond is going to be really important for this movement."

Fox News Digital's Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.

The Biden administration is reportedly considering giving California permission to ban new gas-powered cars in the state as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to undo a host of green energy policies next year.

California set an emissions standard to ban new gas cars in the state by 2035, but such a regulation requires a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to proceed.

Just weeks before Biden's term ends, the EPA is reportedly planning to grant the waiver to allow the state to set stricter emissions standards for electric vehicles than allowed by the federal government, the Washington Post first reported, citing several sources briefed on the matter.

The EPA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, but a spokesperson for the agency told POLITICO’s E&E News that they are still reviewing the regulation "to make sure its decisions are durable and grounded in the law."

AUTO DEALERSHIP OWNER ON EVS: ‘PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD TO BUY THESE VEHICLES'

The report comes just days before the Supreme Court rejected a request from oil companies to challenge California's constitutional authority to establish its own standards on electric vehicles.  

The California Air Resources Board requested a waiver from the federal government for permission to require that 22% of new cars sold be zero emissions by 2025 and achieve a complete ban on gas cars in 2035, citing climate change concerns. 

BIDEN EPA MAKES FIRST-EVER CLIMATE CHANGE ARREST

The state's waiver requests were challenged by several conservative states and oil groups who questioned whether the state had legal authority to impose such emissions standards, but on Monday, the Supreme Court denied their petition for review.

"EPA’s decision to grant California this preemption waiver is based on a rock-solid legal foundation and decades of precedent, and it ensures vital clean air protections for millions of people," said Alice Henderson, director and lead counsel for the Transportation and Clean Air Policy for Environmental Defense Fund, following the Supreme Court's decision.

Trump, however, is reportedly planning to specifically target California's EV standards when he assumes office.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump blasted Biden's actions related to California's proposed EV mandate regulations.

"Fresh off imposing his insane, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, Crooked Joe Biden is preparing to slaughter the remnants of the U.S. auto-industry by approving California’s waiver request outlawing the sale of all gasoline-powered automobiles," Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Leavitt said that, if elected, on his first day in office, Trump would revoke both federal EV requirements and any waiver issued for California by the Biden administration.

California officials met in early December to establish ways to "Trump proof" the state before the president-elect takes office, allocating $25 million for a legal defense fund to fight the incoming administration.

EXCLUSIVE: Dan Slavin, a construction subcontractor in California, has parented his daughter Kaitlyn through an experience no one in their family expected this school year. 

Over the summer, they got word Martin Luther King High School, where Kaitlyn competes in cross country, would be getting a new transfer student who would be competing on Kaitlyn's team. That student was a transgender athlete. 

Slavin says he and other parents contacted the school about it immediately. 

"We went in there with concerns about safety and locker room issues," Slavin told Fox News Digital. "They were very tight-lipped and quiet. They understood our concerns and said they were working on putting things in place for our children's safety, but not much. They just kind of sat there." 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Slavin, a California native who also competed in cross country, as well as track and basketball, in high school, wanted his daughter to compete in sports to benefit from lessons in work ethic and teamwork. 

But the idea of Kaitlyn having to share a locker room and field with a biological male made him "concerned."

California state law protects the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls and women's sports and requires public schools to comply with these protections. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a staunch protector of these policies during his tenure and vetoed a bill that would require schools to notify athletes and their families when a transgender athlete is on their team. 

Newsom signed nine LGBTQ+ rights bills into law within a matter of days in 2023, and this year he signed the Support Academic Future and Educators for Today’s Youth Act (SAFETY Act) into law, which bans teachers from notifying students and parents of a transgender student's biological sex. 

"I'd love to sit down and have lunch with him to talk to him about this and see how that goes," Slavin said. "I would probably just tell him that I get you want everybody to feel included, but you're missing out on how many people it's actually affecting and hurting."

Slavin, his daughter and other girls on the team learned how those laws affect female athletes after the transgender athlete transferred in. Kaitlyn's teammate and co-captain, Taylor, lost her varsity spot to that athlete this season. 

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

"It's been tough on her. She's been there with her teammates and her teammate's in tears," Slavin said. "She's been trying to balance out how to still love all people but also how to raise awareness.

"There isn't a hateful bone in her little body." 

So Kaitlyn, Taylor and some of their other teammates decided to stand up against it as many other young female athletes across the country have this year. They did it by creating custom T-shirts that said "Save Girls Sports." 

But when they showed up to the high school wearing those shirts, administrators allegedly scolded them over it and compared the shirts to swastikas, according to a lawsuit filed against the school by the families of the two girls. 

"I didn't even know how to digest that right away," Slavin said. "There were no words. I still can't even digest it this day. It's unfathomable. It's strange. It's weird. I'm sure there were better illustrations they could use instead of that one." 

The attorney representing Kaitlyn and Taylor in the lawsuit, Julianne Fleischer, told Fox News Digital the rhetoric from school administrators is "incredibly dangerous." 

"When you have adults that compare a message ‘Save Girls Sports’ that promotes equality, fairness, common sense; when you have adults that compare that message to a swastika, which represents the genocide of millions of Jews, really, there are no words. I don't know how you respond to that," Fleischer said. 

The administration's comparison and the subsequent lawsuit prompted other students to get involved. 

Hundreds of students at Martin Luther King High School began to wear the T-shirts every Wednesday. The school responded by enacting a dress code that resulted in many of those students being sent to detention. But that didn't stop them. The students kept wearing the shirts weekly.

The school recently stopped enforcing its dress code on the shirts. Slavin said he saw around 400 students wearing them at Martin Luther King High School, and sources have told Fox News the surrounding schools of Arlington High School, Riverside Polytechnical High School and Romona High School have also seen their students wearing them. 

For Slavin, who has seen his daughter win titles and MVP awards in her youth sports career, this movement is his proudest moment as the father of an athlete. But it's also come with some blowback from transgender inclusion activists on social media. 

"The message gets conflicted as an attack on people, and it's not about that at all. We want all people to feel love, all people to feel included, but some people just don't see the common sense side of it," Slavin said. 

But Slavin said that won't stop him and his family from continuing their activism on this issue. The Riverside Unified School District is holding a board meeting next Thursday, and parents are expected to attend and speak out against policies that have enabled transgender inclusion in girls' sports. 

Beyond that, Slavin said his family may even use it as a new platform for political activism in the 2026 California gubernatorial election if the issue hasn't been resolved. 

"If nothing changes here in the next couple of years, it absolutely should be part of the next election," he said.

"I want to see policies change," Slavin added. "I keep saying the system is broken, and it's doing more harm than good. And I want to see people understand that and admit that. Sometimes, we make mistakes, and it's OK to admit that, but we need to make changes and get out of those mistakes we make." 

Reparations activists in California hope their snubbed bills that were shelved in September will be re-introduced by a legislator during the next special session that Gov. Gavin Newsom called in January.

"That is one of the primary demands or commands from the community and reparations leaders is for a legislator, it doesn't even have to be a black legislator, but a legislator to reintroduce those two bills that failed," California Reparations Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore told Fox News Digital in an interview this week.

The bills, SB 1403 and SB 1331, would have established the California American Freedman’s Affairs Agency to oversee reparations programs and create a dedicated fund for implementing reparations policies, respectively. Both were snubbed after backers said the bills would not move forward and be signed by Newsom.

PROTESTS ERUPT AT CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL AFTER PAIR OF REPARATIONS BILLS SHELVED

"I think the reason for Newsom was probably political, like, he didn't think that these reparations would get so serious so fast," Moore said. "And then this particular election year when Kamala [Harris] was running for president, and you can't look too progressive in this political environment we're in."

The two bills, authored by members of the California Legislative Black Caucus, were pivotal for the reparations task force to carry out its atoning for what supporters said was a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, from housing to education to health.

The Democrat-led California legislature passed a spate of other bills aimed at remedying past racial injustices, but none of them would provide direct payments to African Americans.

"I feel like the caucus and even Newsom were supportive of these bills, and there's evidence of that. The Black Caucus wrote that letter in June wanting to give $6 million to their friends, the Black freedom Fund, which is problematic," Moore said. "But the letter also said they wanted to give $6 million to the reparations agency, but then at the last minute, in August, they decided to kill the Reparations Agency Fund bill."

NEWSOM RAILS AGAINST TRUMP'S 25% TARIFF PLAN DURING SOUTHERN BORDER VISIT: 'IT'S A BETRAYAL'

At the time, then-Sen. Steven Bradford, who is now termed out, said the bills didn't move forward out of fear they wouldn't make it past Newsom's desk.

"We're at the finish line, and we as the Black Caucus owe it to the descendants of chattel slavery, to Black Californians and Black Americans to move this legislation forward," Bradford said, urging his colleagues to reconsider the bills.

When the bills got pulled, a group of protesters were outraged inside the Sacramento Capitol after being promised the bills would receive time.

State Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli accused Democrats in a post on X of going "into hiding" and refusing to bring the bills up for a vote when it came time to pass them despite "promising to pay direct cash reparations to Americans who have been harmed by slavery" for years.

Essayli talked to supporters in the Capitol that day and clarified that he did not support California taxpayers paying for the wrongs of slave states but "believed there should be a debate and a recorded vote on the issue." He then urged the legislature to bring the bills for a floor debate.

"I don't think you can constitutionally justify cash payments based on race," Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. "[President-elect] Trump created opportunity zones, which resulted in direct investments into minority communities, so I think there's other [ways] we can get resources and investments to those who have been harmed by racist policies and slavery long ago."

CALIFORNIA'S UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS SYSTEM 'BROKEN' WITH $20B OWED TO FEDS IN LOAN DEBT: REPORT

There are two new reparations bills on the California docket that were introduced during the Dec. 2 special session.

AB 7, introduced by Democrat Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan and Tina McKinnor, proposes allowing California's higher education institutions, including the California State University, the University of California, independent colleges and private postsecondary institutions, to consider giving admissions preference to applicants who are descendants of American slavery.

AB 57, introduced by McKinnor, seeks to allot a portion of California's Home Purchase Assistance Program funds for descendants of slaves.

Newsom has remained silent on most reparations bills introduced this year but approved a nearly $300 billion budget in June, which included up to $12 million for reparations. The budget did not detail which proposals the funds would support, and his administration has expressed opposition to some of the measures.

However, he signed some reparations-related bills, including a "formal apology for California’s historical role in the perpetuation of slavery and its enduring legacy."

"The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities," Newsom said in a statement in September. "Building on decades of work, California is now taking another important step forward in recognizing the grave injustices of the past – and making amends for the harms caused." 

Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

A California high school caved to a student uprising after hundreds of students showed up wearing T-shirts that read "Save Girls' Sports" to protest a trans athlete on the cross-country team, defying the school's latest dress code. 

The school had previously put students in detention for wearing the shirts. But a source told Fox News Digital that the school did not dress-code students when they showed up wearing the shirts on Wednesday.

Parents of the school's students provided an update to California Family Council outreach director Sophia Lorey, claiming that administrators had a meeting Wednesday morning where faculty was instructed not to dress-code students, Lorey told Fox News Digital. 

"Today students once again wore their ‘Save Girls Sports’ shirts," Lorey wrote to Fox News Digital. "According to the email sent out earlier this week from MLK HS Principal Leann Iacuone only the shirts that stated ‘XX=/XY’ should receive a dress code. Yet, as of now no student who is wearing that shirt today has received a dress code. I received information that there was a staff meeting today before school were the staff was told not to dress code."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Lorey added that students at neighboring schools have begun to wear the T-shirts as Martin Luther King's situation has garnered national attention. These schools include Arlington High School and Riverside Polytechnical High School, and Romona High School.

The students have worn the shirts every Wednesday, resulting in discipline by school administrators. But detention and dress code violations never shuttered their spirit.

Many students at the school have gone viral on social media by sharing details of the situation with photos and videos of them wearing the shirts. The student uprising came amid an ongoing lawsuit over two girls' cross-country runners who alleged their T-shirts were compared to swastikas by school administrators.

Another student athlete on the school's cross-country team, Rylee Morrow, brought more national attention to the situation when she gave an impassioned speech at a school board meeting in November in a clip that went viral due to her conveyed fears of having to share a locker room with a biological male. 

Lorey commended the students for taking a stand and pushing the school district to withdraw its discipline on Wednesday. 

"By wearing their ‘Save Girls Sports’ shirts, these young leaders are showing that they won’t back down in the face of pressure or opposition - even from their own administration. It’s not just about athletics—it’s about standing up for the integrity and rights of female athletes everywhere," Lorey wrote. 

But anti-trans messaging isn't the only social media activity that has erupted from the school.

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

On Wednesday, a trans athlete at the school allegedly made a private post on Instagram lashing out against detractors who have questioned and opposed trans inclusion on the school's girls' cross-country team. Multiple sources, including Lorey, have confirmed the message was posted to the athlete's private Instagram story.

The athlete also allegedly expressed an intention to compete in girls' pole-vaulting and said that competing against male opponents resulted in disappointing finishes.

In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital, the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) said it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law.

"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.

"While these rules were not created by RUSD, the district is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination of students based on gender, gender identity and gender expression and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in physical education and athletics. The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values, which include equity and well-being." 

The school said those who are upset by it should direct their anger to state and federal lawmakers. 

"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento," the statement said. 

California has had laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports since 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

Other high school and college students in California have expressed opposition to trans athletes in girls' sports. 

The girls' volleyball team at Stone Ridge Christian High School in Merced was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament in November, but it forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete. Those girls were commended at a ceremony held by women's athletic rights activist Riley Gaines at their own high school on Dec. 4.

Meanwhile, another California transgender high school volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont and Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

At the college level, San Jose State's volleyball team was at the center of a national media firestorm this season over the presence of a transgender athlete on the team and a teammate being involved in multiple lawsuits over the issue. The team saw eight of its matches forfeited, including a conference tournament match, amid the controversy, which only brought more national attention to the team as it made it all the way to the Mountain West championship game.

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The San Diego County sheriff says her office will not change its practices with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the county’s board of supervisors moved to further restrict that cooperation ahead of the Trump administration taking office next year.

"The sheriff's office will not change its practices based on the board resolution and policy that was passed at today's meeting," Sheriff Kelly Martinez’s office said in a statement. "The board of supervisors does not set policy for the sheriff's office. The sheriff, as an independently elected official, sets the policy for the sheriff's office."

The statement came after a 3-1 vote by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on a resolution to restrict ICE cooperation with local law enforcement.

CALIFORNIA COUNTY VOTES TO RAMP UP SANCTUARY POLICIES AHEAD OF TRUMP DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘RADICAL POLICY’ 

The resolution says the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE, "including by giving ICE agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities."

When ICE is aware of suspected illegal immigrants in local or state custody, it will file a detainer with law enforcement, typically requesting that the agency is notified ahead of the suspected illegal immigrants' release and, in some cases, that they be held until ICE can take custody of them.

ICE says this helps detain illegal immigrants without having to go into communities and gets illegal immigrant offenders off the streets. Sanctuary proponents say that such policies chill cooperation between law enforcement and otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants.

BLUE STATE COUNTY TEES UP VOTE ON ‘KNEE-JERK’ RESOLUTION TO PROTECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATION

"When federal immigration authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol coerce local law enforcement to carry out deportations, family members are separated and community trust in law enforcement and local government is destroyed," an overview of the resolution claims. 

"Witnesses and victims who are undocumented or who have loved ones who are undocumented are afraid to come to the County for help, which includes calling local law enforcement. This puts the public safety of all San Diegans at risk."

Proponents of the resolution say California’s sanctuary law has too many loopholes and still allows agencies to notify ICE of release dates and transfer some individuals into their custody.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

It was a claim with which Martinez disagreed.

"As the sheriff of San Diego County, my No. 1 priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all residents of our diverse region. While protecting the rights of undocumented immigrants is crucial, it is equally important to ensure that victims of crimes are not overlooked or neglected in the process," she said.

The San Diego County Sheriff is a nonpartisan office, but Martinez has identified as a Democrat personally.

"Victims include undocumented individuals. These vulnerable individuals express to me that their legal status is used as a weapon against them when offenders from their community victimize them," she said. "We must protect the well-being of individuals, including those who are undocumented, which requires a careful approach that upholds the principles of justice, fairness and compassion for all individuals involved."

It comes ahead of what is expected to be a historic mass deportation campaign by the incoming Trump administration. Incoming border czar Tom Homan has said no one is off the table when it comes to deportations, although public safety threats will be the priority.

San Diego County has voted to further block county cooperation with federal immigration authorities ahead of an expected deportation push by the incoming Trump administration next year – a move quickly slammed by a top local Republican.

The resolution goes further than California’s existing ‘sanctuary’ law, which generally limits law enforcement's cooperation with ICE. The vote was approved in a 3-1 vote by San Diego County’s board of supervisors.

The resolution says that the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE "including by giving ICE agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities."

BLUE STATE COUNTY TEES UP VOTE ON ‘KNEE-JERK’ RESOLUTION TO PROTECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATION

When ICE is aware of a suspected illegal immigrant in local or state custody, it will lodge a detainer with law enforcement, typically requesting that the agency is notified ahead of their release and in some cases held until ICE can take custody of them.

ICE says this helps detain illegal immigrants without having to go into communities and gets illegal immigrant offenders off the streets. Sanctuary proponents say that such policies chill cooperation between law enforcement and otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants.

"When federal immigration authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Border Patrol, coerce local law enforcement to carry out deportations, family members are separated and community trust in law enforcement and local government is destroyed," an overview of the resolution claims. "Witnesses and victims who are undocumented or who have loved ones who are undocumented are afraid to come to the County for help, which includes calling local law enforcement. This puts the public safety of all San Diegans at risk."

ANOTHER MAJOR BLUE CITY DOUBLES DOWN ON VOW TO OBSTRUCT TRUMP'S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

The vote comes just over a month before President-elect Trump will be sworn into office. He has pledged to launch a "historic" mass deportation operation once in office to remove millions of illegal immigrants from the country.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas said that California’s current sanctuary laws restricting ICE deportations don’t go far enough.

"While the California Values Act significantly expanded protection from deportation to California residents, it fell short of protecting all residents, because it allowed agencies to still notify ICE of release dates and transfers individuals to ICE without a warrant in some circumstances," she said.

The resolution echoes a similar policy enacted in 2019 by Santa Clara County. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican who provided the sole nay vote on the resolution, slammed the passage of the law. He previously told Fox News Digital that the move was part of an effort by some Democrats to "Trump-proof" the state.

On Tuesday he said the vote is a "direct betrayal of the people we are sworn to protect." 

"This reckless measure not only goes far beyond California's already extreme Sanctuary State laws but actively endangers our communities by shielding illegal immigrant criminals from deportation. Consider this: under this policy, law enforcement is prohibited from notifying ICE about individuals, in custody, who have committed violent and heinous crimes, including: Rape and stalking, Assault and battery, Burglary, Child abuse and more," he said.

He said he has already been in touch with members of the incoming Trump administration and "will fight relentlessly to undo this disastrous policy and ensure that illegal immigrant criminals are removed from our neighborhoods."

California Attorney General (AG) Rob Bonta has joined a growing list of Democratic leaders vowing to resist President-elect Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan’s plans for mass deportations.

Last week, Bonta issued new guidance to courthouses, healthcare facilities, universities, schools, labor agencies, public libraries and shelters, requiring state-run agencies to adopt policies to resist Trump’s "draconian" and "inhumane" immigration enforcement actions.

"My office will continue to use the full force of the law and every tool at our disposal to protect the rights of California’s immigrants – and we need staff at these critical locations to do the same," Bonta said. "We cannot let the Trump deportation machine create a culture of fear and mistrust that prevents immigrants from accessing vital public services." 

BLUE STATE FACES SPIKE IN MIGRANT SEX CRIMES AS TOP CITY PLEDGES RESISTANCE TO TRUMP DEPORTATIONS

According to California's AG office, the guidance lays out model policies and recommendations that "guide public institutions in complying with California law limiting state and local participation in immigration enforcement activities."

"In California, we believe our public resources, like libraries, hospitals, courthouses and schools should be available for all without fear of civil immigration enforcement," Bonta said during a press event announcing the guidance. "The model policies we’re issuing to public facilities … provide policy recommendations that may mitigate disruptions from immigration enforcement actions at public institutions."

The guidance refers state agencies to a 2017 law called the "California Values Act" that the AG office said, "prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from assisting with immigration enforcement, with limited exceptions."

BLUE STATE GOVERNORS SCORNED AFTER SENDING WARNINGS TO TRUMP: 'THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE DONE WITH' THIS

Bonta’s guidance includes prohibiting the "unauthorized" collection or disclosure of information that "might indicate an individual’s or family’s citizenship or immigration status," as well as instituting a policy of always referring federal law enforcement officials to a designated person who will "have the authority to respond to immigration enforcement-related requests."

"I want to emphasize that the California DOJ is here to protect immigrants’ safety, immigrants’ freedoms and immigrants’ rights," said Bonta. "Let me be clear, President-elect Trump’s immigration agenda is draconian and his rhetoric, xenophobic."

Bonta, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines with his parents at 2 months old, also said that Trump’s deportation plan is "fiscally irresponsible." He called immigrants "the backbone of our nation."

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Kevin McCarthy, former speaker of the House and congressman from California, told Fox News that California politicians like Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom are costing California taxpayers huge sums by making the state a "magnet" for illegal immigrants.

"He’ll give them free healthcare, I mean, he denies California citizens certain things but not to those who come illegally that’s why we attract so many and it’s costing a great deal, we have a huge deficit in California," said McCarthy.

McCarthy said that Bonta’s actions are an attempt to "make a name for himself" in Democratic politics despite concerns over illegal immigration and violent crime by illegal migrants playing a major role in Trump's retaking of the White House in 2024.

"These attorneys general should take a deep breath, listen to what the American public said and understand that immigration was one of the major reasons why Donald Trump won, and it wasn’t a Republican issue, [it was] Republican and Democrat too," he said.

He pointed to the election of Nathan Hochman as Los Angeles County District Attorney, who he said was "overwhelmingly elected because we watched the crime go rampant."

"As attorney general, your job is to protect your citizens. Why wouldn’t you want these gang members, I mean these are ruthless gang members and these have been running the drugs of fentanyl that have been killing your children, why wouldn’t you want them out? I would think that would be your job without having the president do it," said McCarthy. "People want to see something else happen, especially from this attorney general."

Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Riverside, California, addressed a controversy involving a transgender athlete on its cross country team and a lawsuit by two girls on the team alleging their "Save Women's Sports" T-shirts were compared to swastikas by school administrators. 

The school has faced criticism locally from its own students and nationally from women's athlete activists, including Riley Gaines and Jennifer Sey. 

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) says it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must to comply with California state law. The school said those who are upset by it should direct their anger to state and federal lawmakers. 

"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento," the statement said. 

The statement also cited language in the California Education Code, California Code of Regulations and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) bylaws, all of which outlined protections for transgender athletes in public schools. 

"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.

"While these rules were not created by RUSD, the district is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination of students based on gender, gender identity and gender expression and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in physical education and athletics. The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values, which include equity and well-being." 

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The RUSD's statement did not address the controversy involving the "Save Women's Sports" T-shirts. 

California has had state laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports dating back to 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."

And Martin Luther King High School is not the first public institution to blame Democrat-authored state laws for a controversial dispute with student-athletes over sharing spaces with transgender athletes.

The University of Nevada, Reno dealt with a controversy with its women's volleyball players in October, when the athletes' request to forfeit a match against a team with a transgender athlete was initially rejected by the administration. 

The players made their own public statements about intending to forfeit the match and held a press conference where they accused the university of trying to pressure them into playing. Team captain Sia Liilii alleged athletic department officials told the players they "didn't understand the science" of facing a transgender athlete. 

The university provided a statement to Fox News Digital, outlining that it could not fulfill the player's wishes of forfeiting the match without violating Nevada state law. The state's constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections. 

Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a Democrat from North Las Vegas who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law has helped transgender people maintain their identity.

"As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons involving gender identity or expression could constitute per se discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution," the university's statement added. 

The university ended up forfeiting the match one day before it was scheduled due to not having enough players to compete.

California and Nevada are not the only states that have faced controversy involving public school girls not wanting to face a transgender opponent in the past year. 

Even states with laws in place to restrict transgender inclusion have had incidents of it happening due to decisions by liberal judges. New Hampshire and Virginia, both states with such laws in place, were affected in 2024. 

Judges Landya McCafferty of New Hampshire and M. Hannah Lauck of Virginia, both appointed during the Obama administration, each issued rulings this year that enabled biological males to play on high school girls soccer and tennis teams. McCafferty issued an order that allowed two transgender athletes to compete in New Hampshire, while Lauck ruled that an 11-year-old transgender tennis player was allowed to compete against girls the same age in Virginia. 

The Biden administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on "sex" discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and "pregnancy or related conditions" in April. The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women's sports. 

The RUSD's message on Friday has given the district a chance to remind the public that it is at the mercy of the Democratic establishment on this topic. 

Still, the students have fought back. 

California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey revealed that more than 150 students have worn the T-shirts to school since the controversy started and alleged that students who refused to comply with the new dress code were forced to spend hours in the principal's office. Lorey says those students plan to keep doing this on a regular basis despite their school's new rule. 

"I received those numbers from parents directly involved," Lorey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "I then have received word on social media that the students plan to continue to do this every Wednesday."

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Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, is the latest battleground in the ongoing national culture war over trans athletes in girls' sports. 

Students at the school have gone viral on social media in recent weeks amid an ongoing lawsuit over two girls' cross country runners allegedly being told they can't wear t-shirts that read "Save Women's Sports." The two teenage girls heading the lawsuit allege their shirts were compared to swastikas by school administrators, while a trans athlete competes on their team and took a varsity spot from a female player. 

Another student athlete on the school's cross-country team, Rylee Morrow, brought more national attention to the situation when she gave an impassioned speech at a school board meeting in November in a clip that went viral due to her conveyed fears of having to share a locker room with a biological male. 

"Having a male on the team proposes genetic advantages," Morrow later said during an interview on Fox News, while lambasting her school for comparing the shirts to swastikas. "It was honestly disappointing in our staff at our school; that's a mass genocide, and to compare such a very broad term to such a horrible time in history is quite disappointing."

This past week, the situation appeared to escalate when students from the school appeared in a viral TikTok in which they said the school has instituted a new dress code to prevent students from wearing the shirts.

"When our school won't let a girl wear this shirt who lost her varsity spot for a biological male so everyone wears them and they try to not let us into school, dress code us and keep us out of class for voicing our opinion and supporting a friend. Crazy how the world works," a caption read. 

The TikTok has since been deleted from the account, but it still circulates across X. 

California Family Council outreach director Sophia Lorey revealed that more than 150 students have worn the t-shirts to school since the incident started, and alleged that students who refused to comply with the new dress code were forced to spend hours in the principal's office. Lorey says that those students plan to keep doing this on a regular basis despite their school's new rule. 

"I received those numbers from parents directly involved," Lorey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. "I then have received word on social media that the students plan to continue to do this every Wednesday."

Lorey added that she hopes this will lead more of the school's students to join the ongoing lawsuit. 

"I’m deeply disappointed in the school administration for trampling on their First Amendment rights, issuing dress code violations and comparing ‘XX does not equal XY’ to wearing a swastika, simply because the students are standing up for biological reality, is disgusting. Schools should protect free speech, not punish students for defending what is right. I am looking forward to hopefully more students joining the lawsuit, and truth prevailing," Lorey said in an exclusive statement.  

"Even if the school doesn’t like the message, this does not give them the ability to violate their students' First Amendment right. Earlier this year, I won my First Amendment right case, after a librarian silenced me for stating, ‘Men do not belong in women’s sports,’ and I believe we will see the same results here."

Former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines also spoke out about the situation and encouraged her followers in a post on X to reach out to the school to voice displeasure with the administration. 

Julianne Fleischer, Legal Counsel at Advocates for Faith & Freedom, who is representing the two athletes involved in the lawsuit, appeared on Fox News with Morrow on Nov. 26 to speak out against the school for its stance on preventing the girls from wearing the shirts. 

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"They wore [the shirts] to their practice, and the athletic director told them that they needed to hide their shirt or change their shirts because that message, ‘Save Girls' Sports,’ creates a hostile environment," she explained.

The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) provided a statement to Fox News Digital defending the decision to have the student in the school, but has not addressed its stance on the t-shirts. The RUSD also said the reason for this is because of the state laws in California in which public schools are obligated to protect trans athletes. 

"While these rules were not created by RUSD, the District is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination of students based on gender, gender identity and gender expression, and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in physical education and athletics. The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values which include equity and well-being," the statement read.

The sudden national culture movement to protect women's and girls' sports from trans inclusion has been just as much of a youth movement as it has a conservative movement since it picked up steam this year. High school students across New York reportedly planned a mass walkout event to protest trans inclusion in girls' sports back in October, according to The New York Post. 

"It’s not right for boys to compete against girls in sports. It’s a huge disadvantage for girls," said Hannah Pompeo, a 16-year soccer player at Eden High School near Buffalo, ahead of the students' planned "Walk Off for Fairness Day."

California has been a particular hotbed for the movement and controversial instances involving trans inclusion this year, as the state has had laws in place to protect trans athletes that seek to compete against females since 2013. 

Stone Ridge Christian High School, located in Merced, forfeited a state playoff volleyball game against a team that was said to have a biological male transgender athlete on its team. Stone Ridge Christian was commended for the decision and even held a ceremony with Gaines to celebrate the decision. 

Another trans volleyball player at Half Moon Bay High School prompted the Catholic school Notre Dame Belmont to forfeit a match earlier this season, but they chose to play a rematch. That rematch reportedly included booing of the trans athlete. Notre Dame Belmont was then told it could face "consequences" for the decision of students to boo. 

Meanwhile, one of the most polarizing national controversies involving trans athlete inclusion recently played out at San Jose State University this past volleyball season. 

Trans player Blaire Fleming and female teammate Brooke Slusser were thrust into the controversy that garnered mainstream attention, and was even used as a campaign point in the recent presidential election, after Slusser filed two lawsuits alleging she had been made to share a bedroom and changing space with Fleming for an entire season without being told the player is a biological male. 

The team saw eight of its matches forfeited, including a conference tournament match, amid the controversy, which only brought more national attention to the team as it made it all the way to the Mountain West championship game. 

The issue of trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports became a massive political vulnerability for Democrats in the recent election. President-elect Trump pounced on the issue, declaring a stance in favor of a national ban on trans athletes in women's sports. 

The opposition has fueled a massive culture movement, especially among young women in Democrat-controlled states with laws in place to enable trans athletes to compete against them. 

The movement has become so powerful in recent months that it is now even the basis for a lucrative apparel brand, XX-XY Athletics, which has signed multiple female athletes who have endured the experience of competing against transgenders as brand ambassadors. 

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San Diego County will soon vote on a resolution to block all county cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including letting them know about the release of criminal illegal immigrants -- coming just weeks before the Trump administration is expected to launch a historic deportation campaign.

The resolution would go further than the state’s sanctuary law, which generally limits law enforcement's cooperation with ICE, and represents a hardline stance against all cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. 

The new resolution, which will see a vote on December 10 as part of the county’s "commitment to social justice and inclusion," will say that the county will not provide assistance or cooperation to ICE "including by giving ICE agents access to individuals or allowing them to use County facilities for investigative interviews or other purposes, expending County time or resources responding to ICE inquiries or communicating with ICE regarding individuals’ incarceration status or release dates, or otherwise participating in any civil immigration enforcement activities."

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"When federal immigration authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Border Patrol, coerce local law enforcement to carry out deportations, family members are separated and community trust in law enforcement and local government is destroyed," an overview of the resolution claims. "Witnesses and victims who are undocumented or who have loved ones who are undocumented are afraid to come to the County for help, which includes calling local law enforcement. This puts the public safety of all San Diegans at risk."

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas said that California’s current sanctuary laws restricting ICE deportations don’t go far enough.

"While the California Values Act significantly expanded protection from deportation to California residents, it fell short of protecting all residents, because it allowed agencies to still notify ICE of release dates and transfers individuals to ICE without a warrant in some circumstances," she said.

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She argues that the "loophole" has resulted in some illegal immigrants being transferred to ICE custody or ICE being notified of their release. The resolution is similar to a 2019 policy adopted in Santa Clara County.

"By avoiding active cooperation with ICE, including through specific notification to ICE of the release dates of immigrants, the County avoids treating a group of individuals differently solely on the basis of their immigration status," she says.

Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who opposes the resolution, says he believes the resolution will pass, given the Democratic makeup of the board of supervisors. He said he believed the move was in line with a broader effort by the state to "Trump-proof" the state, and called it a "knee-jerk" reaction. 

"This is going to really impede different agencies and working together to make sure that everyone's safe, even the immigrants that are here now that have come across the border. This is going to hurt their communities even worse," he told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"I think this is going to allow more criminals who are here illegally to stay in San Diego County, and to get away with these kinds of crimes to where law enforcement can't work with immigration or with ICE on a much broader group of crimes. So, it's going to allow more rampant crime here and make our cities and our communities less safe."

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Multiple officials at state and local level across the U.S. have said they will not cooperate with the upcoming deportation campaign by the new Trump administration. In Boston this week, the city council unanimously voted for a resolution to protect illegal immigrants from "unjust enforcement actions" and restricting Boston police from cooperating with ICE. 

However, some Republican states have said they will help the administration in its plans, with Texas going a step further and offering land on which to stage the deportation operation.

A woman in northern California recently entered a man into a women's surfing competition in a sarcastic protest of transgender inclusion in women's sports. The stunt made the female contestants feel "uncomfortable," but the woman who did it defended her decision. 

Emily Pillari, a chiropractor in San Jose, penned an op-ed for Look Out Santa Cruz, defending her recent stunt to sign up male swim coach Calder Nold for the recent Women on Waves (WOW) surf contest. Nold, 40, is 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. 

"Certainly, the fear of offending the transgender community and its allies, and the risk that comes with doing so (more on that, below), is tying the hands and smothering many voices of reason when it comes to this discussion. By entering an apparently male surfer in Women on Waves, I sought to give people a safe chance to express their sentiments … and they did," Pillari wrote. 

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The chiropractor's op-ed was a response to another op-ed for the same outlet penned by one of the contestants who agonized about her experience competing against Nold. 

The surfer who penned that piece, local author Liza Monroy, described what it felt like seeing the shirtless Nold next to her ahead of the competition. 

"I competed alongside Nold that sunny Saturday morning. He wore the requisite jersey wrapped around his neck and was bare-chested and in board shorts. A participant asked why he was there. What was he trying to do or prove by competing in Women On Waves? Did he identify as a woman? Nold brushed it off, saying a friend had "nominated" him," Monroy wrote. 

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"He seemed to be there to make women uncomfortable on purpose."

Monroy also criticized Pillari for being anti-transgender, expressing pro-transgender sentiment in her piece. 

"Competing against a cis man was not the intimidating part to me; I love the contest and surfing, and I’m happy to surf against anyone. What hurt me personally about his participation was the intent behind it," Monroy wrote. "To enroll a man in a women’s event to protest the inclusion of trans women in women’s events is a harmful act, hands down."

Monroy suggested transgender athletes are not at a physical advantage over female competitors and even criticized former college swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines for her activism in protecting women's sports from transgender inclusion. 

Nold has said the process for registering for the competition as a man did not have any barriers, and he was allowed to compete despite being male. 

"We were not sneaking. We did not lie. We did not have to fabricate anything. I did not even have to identify as anything. I participated based on the exact requirements," Nold told Reduxx. "The only place the word ‘woman’ appears is in the contest title. Everything else referred to ‘people who love the water’ or ‘people who support women’s surfing.’ That’s me. I fit that bill."

Nold was disqualified from the competition after leading in the first two heats, but not because he is a man. Nold was disqualified because judges determined he was not wearing his jersey properly. 

The issue of transgender inclusion in women's sports became one of the nation's most volatile political issues of the most recent election cycle, with a concentration of controversies based in northern California. 

The most prominent controversy has played out 35 miles northeast of Capitola Beach, where the surf contest took place, at San Jose State University. The university's volleyball team just wrapped up a season that stirred national controversy over a transgender athlete on the team.

San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser has filed two lawsuits alleging the university kept her teammate's birth sex secret from her and other players while being made to share sleeping and changing spaces with that player. 

Stone Ridge Christian High School, located in Merced, California, forfeited a state playoff volleyball game against a team that was said to have a biological male transgender athlete on its team. Stone Ridge Christian was commended for the decision and even held a ceremony with Gaines to celebrate the decision. 

A recent lawsuit by female athletes at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, has alleged their "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts were likened to a swastika by school officials. The plaintiffs wore the shirts after a transgender athlete, who had not consistently attended practices or met key varsity eligibility requirements, was placed on the varsity team, displacing one of the girls from her spot, the complaint alleged.

A girls cross country runner at the school, Rylee Morrow, gave an impassioned plea at a school board meeting Nov. 21, saying the way things have been handled makes her feel "unsafe." 

"The whole LGBTQ is shoved down our throats," Morrow cried.

"It is not OK that I have to be in position, and I have to see a male in booty shorts and having to see that around me. As a 16-year-old girl, I don't see that as a safe environment," Morrow said. "Going into a locker room and seeing males in there, I don't find that safe. I don't find going to the bathroom safe when there's guys in there. It's not OK. I'm a 16-year-old girl."

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