CNN Anchor Confronts Attorney for Misgendering in Heated Clash Over Trans Athlete: ‘Who Is ‘Her’?!’

California attorney Julie Hamill and CNN anchor Brianna Keilar sparred over transgender participation in high school sports as they debated the case of A.B. Hernandez – a transgender athlete whose performance has vaulted her into the centre of a national controversy.

Hernandez, a junior at Jurupa Valley High School, placed first in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump during the preliminaries of the California state championships, securing a place in all three finals.

Her participation, however, has drawn national attention after President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the state, citing a violation of his February executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

The dispute centres on Title IX, the federal law barring sex-based discrimination in education. The Trump administration argues that allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports violates Title IX, while California says its state law – allowing students to compete in line with their gender identity – is compliant.

Hamill appeared on CNN News Central on Friday to discuss the topic when the host pressed her on what would be considered “fair.”

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?

HAMILL: Who is her?

KEILAR: AB, AB…

HAMILL: Okay, AB 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 for the females competing to have to compete with a male.

KEILAR: Okay so, in Trump’s federal funding threat, is that something that would hurt all student athletes who are assigned female at birth?

HAMILL: Would his federal funding threat hurt athletes?

KEILAR: If the money is taken away.

HAMILL: Right, so the law actually says that schools that do not abide Title IX or other federal laws can not receive federal funds. So that’s not Trump’s fault. The problem is with the state –

KEILAR: But you understand, Julie, you understand there’s two views here on Title IX so in that regard, if you were to take away the funding as it pertains to trans athletes, not everyone agrees with you, I think we just have to be clear about that, if you are taking away the funds for athletes, student athletes in California, isn’t that going to hurt all of them?

HAMILL: Taking away federal funds is going to hurt all California kids, which is why the State of California needs to comply with federal law.

As the segment continued, Keilar pressed Hamill on what participation should look like for student athletes like Hernandez.

“There are obviously clear benefits to playing sports, to competing in sports,” the host said. “So when you’re looking at an athlete like AB Hernandez, what would you have her do so that she can benefit from sporting?”

Hamill reiterated her earlier point.

“AB Hernandez is a male who identifies as a female,” she said. “What he can do is compete in the male category.”

She went further, adding she viewed Hernandez as a “victim” of the broader system while addressing the athlete with male pronouns, over which the host interjected.

Hamill continued: “I view AB 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 has been told is not actually reality. He can not become a girl. What he can do is compete in the male category.”

Keilar interrupted: “Can we stick to sports? Let’s stick to the sports. So you say compete in the male category or what?”

Hamill replied: “Or if the state and CIF want to create a separate category for people like AB 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 ab Hernandez’s mother has personally threatened against them.”

She added: “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.”

The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in the state, responded to the backlash by piloting a one-time rule for this weekend’s meet. The rule allows additional girls, who would have qualified for the finals had Hernandez not competed, to participate. The CIF has not indicated whether the policy will continue beyond this event.

Coach Keinan Briggs, whose athletes were displaced in the rankings by Hernandez’s results, said the controversy stems from the system itself.

“It comes down to the fairness of the event—the way it’s set up,” he told CNN. Still, he opposes using federal funding as leverage. “The bigger question should be: How do we give support for all athletes to feel welcome and included?”

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signaled a shift from progressive orthodoxy on this issue, calling the situation “deeply unfair” in a recent interview. The state’s stance remains that public schools must follow state law, which allows students to compete in alignment with their gender identity.

Watch above via CNN.

This article has been updated.