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Attorney Wins Gold Against CNN in Heated Transgender Athlete Debate
On Friday afternoon, CNN’s Brianna Keilar clashed with California attorney Julie Hamel on CNN News Central over the topic of boys in girls’ sports, a recent hot topic. At one point, Keilar began shouting over Hamel to get her to stop referring to the trans athlete by his biological gender. Still Hamel schooled Keilar with the facts.
At a California track and field state championship preliminary, A.B. Hernandez, a biologically born male, competed in the female category. Hernandez placed first in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump during the meet, which guaranteed him a spot in the state championship, something that has been the subject of intense national controversy since the competition the previous weekend.
Obviously, this was a travesty to the many high school girls who worked and trained hard to even make it to the round, but unfortunately this was nothing new in California. According to the State’s Education Code, transgender athletes have been able to compete in the category that best aligns with their gender identity since 2013.
Keilar hosted Hamel, principal attorney and founder of the California Justice Center, a public interest law firm aimed at protecting constitutional rights in California regarding the recent track and field competition, and how it is pursuant to a larger problem. Hamel immediately confronted Keilar for misleading viewers about her motivations for taking up the case (Click “expand”):
KEILAR: And joining us now is attorney Julie Hamel, who is the president and founder of the California Justice Center. Her group opposes transgender athletes competing in girls youth sports. Julie, thanks for being with us. What do you think of the rule change in this specific case?
HAMEL: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate CNN bringing me on to talk about this issue. And I want to be clear that my position isn't that I oppose any athletes. I want to see Title IX, which was enshrined in law in 1970s in the United States of America in order to give equal opportunity to women and girls in educational programs. I want to see that law enforced and many federal district courts in our country have already held that this principle, that gender identity can be used in place of sex, is in direct conflict with the clear language of Title IX.
This came after a Truth Social post by President Trump last Tuesday, in which the President warned California that their federal Title IX funding would be halted if they continued to let biological males compete in female sports, a post which was likely motivated by A.B. Hernandez’s participation in the competition.
As Hamel argued to Keilar, California has crafted the wording of their educational code to be favorable to trans athletes, and were not abiding by Title IX provisions. This has hurt female athletes in high schools and colleges:
HAMEL: The root of the problem in California is AB 1266, which became law, Education Code Section 221.5F, back in 2013. That law requires school districts to allow students to compete in the athletics and use the facilities that align with their gender identity instead of their sex. That is the root of the problem that needs to be rescinded, and the State of California needs to stop enforcing that law, if we are going to abide by Title IX. If California doesn't want to do that, fine. But they need to stop accepting federal funds. That's a condition; you have to comply with federal law to accept federal funds.
Hamel was correct, Title IX prohibits any type of sex-based discrimination, including “failure to provide equal athletic opportunity” as it pertains to sex. The Department of Education, the enforcing agency behind Title IX, also retains the right to stop funding an institution who does not comply with the provisions in Title IX.
However, Keilar, along with most covering this story, seem to think this is just another example of Trump’s “authoritarian” tendencies, framing anything they can to try and convince the public that Trump is a dictator, but not without getting frustrated at Hamel’s “misgendering” (Click “expand”):
KEILAR: What would make this fair for her to compete, for those who are competing against her? What would that kind of structure in competition look like?
HAMEL: Who is her?
KEILAR: A.B. – A.B.
HAMEL: Okay, A.B. Hernandez is a male who identifies as a female. What would be fair is to have Hernandez competing in the male category. It is not fair to the females competing to have to compete with a male.
KEILAR: Okay, so in Trump's federal funding threat, is that something though that would hurt all student athletes, including athletes who are assigned female at birth?
HAMEL: Would his federal funding threat hurt athletes?
KEILAR: If the money is taken away.
HAMEL: Right. So the law actually says that schools that do not abide by Title IX or other federal laws cannot receive federal funds. So that's not Trump's fault.
Again, Hamel was right. This wasn’t a “Trump” thing, or some type of totalitarian power he was exercising, it’s just the terms and conditions of Title IX being enforced. Like most federal funding, these institutions have to comply with the provisions laid out in order to receive federal funding. If they stop complying, they will lose the funding. But, for whatever reason, CNN, like many others, think that Title IX is some inherent right for public schools, and a vague document subject to individual interpretation.
Seeming to forget that she was not a legal expert, Keilar condescended to Hamel that the idea that trans athletes are a violation of Title IX is just Hamel’s interpretation of the act. Keiler snapped:
You understand, Julie, you understand there's two views– two views here on title nine. So just to be clear, not everyone agrees with you on how you're viewing it. So, in that regard, if you were to take away the funding as it pertains to trans athletes, not everyone agrees with you.
What Keilar failed to understand was that the law was not subject to individual interpretation like it’s a parable or poem. Hamel, not doubling down, reminded Keilar that not complying with Title IX allowed for the removal of federal funding, and will hurt all student athletes, highlighting just how imperative it was that schools abide by Title IX.
The entire transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CNN’s News Central
May 30, 2025
3:41:02 PM EST
(...)
BRIANNA KEILAR: And joining us now is attorney Julie Hamel, who is the president and founder of the California Justice Center. Her group opposes transgender athletes competing in girls youth sports. Julie, thanks for being with us. What do you think of the rule change in this specific case?
JULIE HAMEL: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate CNN bringing me on to talk about this issue. And I want to be clear that my position isn't that I oppose any athletes. I want to see Title IX, which was enshrined in law in 1970s in the United States of America in order to give equal opportunity to women and girls in educational programs. I want to see that law enforced and many federal district courts in our country have already held that this principle, that gender identity can be used in place of sex, is in direct conflict with the clear language of Title IX.
So what CIF has done with these new revisions to their policies, it might mitigate damages that these female athletes otherwise would have had by being ousted by a male who is competing in a girls competition, but what it doesn't do is get at the root of the problem.
The root of the problem in California is AB 1266, which became law, Education Code Section 221.5F, back in 2013. That law requires school districts to allow students to compete in the athletics and use the facilities that align with their gender identity instead of their sex. That is the root of the problem that needs to be rescinded, and the State of California needs to stop enforcing that law, if we are going to abide by Title IX.
If California doesn't want to do that, fine. But they need to stop accepting federal funds. That's a condition; you have to comply with federal law to accept federal funds.
KEILAR: What would make this fair for her to compete, for those who are competing against her? What would that kind of structure in competition look like?
HAMEL: Who is her?
KEILAR: A.B. – A.B.
HAMEL: Okay, A.B. Hernandez is a male who identifies as a female. What would be fair is to have Hernandez competing in the male category. It is not fair to the females competing to have to compete with a male.
KEILAR: Okay, so in Trump's federal funding threat, is that something though that would hurt all student athletes, including athletes who are assigned female at birth?
HAMEL: Would his federal funding threat hurt athletes?
KEILAR: If the money is taken away.
HAMEL: Right. So the law actually says that schools that do not abide Title IX or other federal laws cannot receive federal funds. So that's not Trump's fault.
(...)
3:44:55 PM
KEILAR: So when you dig into the science on trans athletes, what is really clear is that there needs to be a lot more research on a lot more trans athletes to be able to draw better conclusions about the effect of whether gender affirming care actually reduces or eliminates the advantage conferred on an athlete who is genetically male.
Would you welcome more research? Is this a situation where more research might help?
HAMEL: I absolutely think that more research and more careful and thoughtful discussion is necessary here. Pediatric sex change procedures are very harmful, and they cause lifelong damage to children, and this is something that the United States of America needs to examine thoughtfully, and people need to be able to discuss openly without being called bigots and transphobes.
KEILAR: Yeah, totally hear you. So, there are obviously clear benefits to playing sports, to competing in sports. So, when you're looking at an athlete like A.B. Hernandez, what would you have her do so that she can benefit from sporting?
HAMEL: I view A.B. Hernandez as the victim in this situation. I feel for him and I feel that he has been lied to for his entire life. And it's probably very destabilizing and difficult for him right now to realize that what he's been told is not actually reality. He cannot become a girl. What he can do is compete in the male category–
KEILAR: Julie, can we stick to sports? Ok let’s stick to sports.
HAMEL: – Or if CIF–
KEILAR: So you say to compete in the male category or what?
HAMEL: Or if the state and CIF want to create a separate category for people like A.B. Hernandez. And that's something that they want to do. Fine. It is not fair to female athletes who have worked their entire lives for this kind of competition, who also, by the way, cannot speak out for fear of retaliation, which A.B. Hernandez's mother has personally threatened against them.
So, it's very unfair for our girls and women in California to have to compete with males, have to share facilities with males, and then not be able to speak up about the unfairness because people are going to label them as bigots.
KEILAR: Julie Hamel, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
HAMEL: Thank you.
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