Olympic Gold Medalists Hogshead and Humphries Slam Newsom Over Trans Athlete in California Girls Track

Three-time Olympic women's gold medalists Nancy Hogshead and Kaillie Humphries criticized the growing controversy over girls' track and field in California, where a trans athlete seeks to defend two state titles.

Hogshead took aim at Gov. Gavin Newsom over state policies permitting trans athletes in women's sports. She responded to a statement from a source in Newsom's office that said, "The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect."

"Governor Newsom seems to exclude girls from his own standard of 'fairness, dignity and respect.' It is impossible to include a male — however they identify — into girl's sports and have a fair competition, respecting and dignifying the unique biology of females. Females aren't weakened males; males and females are built from different molds, so different that it justifies formal, government-sanctioned sex segregation," Hogshead told Fox News Digital.

Hogshead, who won three gold medals and one silver in swimming for the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, has emerged as an activist for women's sports despite her lifelong Democratic affiliation. She also works as a civil rights lawyer.

"The government never segregates racially and religiously, but we do segregate by sex because of biology, material reality. Girls and women rely on that formal sex segregation to have the possibility of equality in sport. Governor Newsom needs to include the girls competing in track in his own analysis. As a law professor, this is a big fail," she added.

Humphries, a California taxpayer and supporter of Donald Trump in the push to protect women's sports, also faulted Newsom. She has earned three Olympic gold medals and six total in bobsled for the United States and Canada, the most for any women's bobsledder.

"There is nothing fair about allowing boys to take opportunities from girls in sports. It's just the left's thinly veiled misogyny. Governor Newsom should be focusing on California hosting the Olympics which actually knows the difference between men and women and quit pushing his woke agenda which is out of the mainstream of the American public," Humphries told Fox News Digital.

A source in Newsom's office addressed a planned "Save Girls Sports" protest set for Saturday at a track and field playoff meet. "The Governor has said discussions on this issue should be guided by fairness, dignity, and respect. He rejects the right wing's cynical attempt to weaponize this debate as an excuse to vilify individual kids. The Governor's position is simple: stand with all kids and stand up to bullies," the source told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

"California is one of 22 states that have laws requiring students be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school sports consistent with their gender identity. California passed this law in 2013 (AB 1266) and it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown."

Donald Trump's White House also criticized Newsom before the start of the girls' track and field postseason. "Gavin Newscum is a truly sick individual who has no regard for fairness, dignity, and respect. If he did, he wouldn't allow men to compete in women's sports, limiting women's opportunities and jeopardizing their health and safety. President Trump fights for commonsense policies that uplift every athlete and restore fairness on the field," White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster told Fox News Digital Thursday.

Former U.S. cyclist Giddeon Massie also commented. "God in His perfect will and sovereignty created men and women to be different and we can be thankful for that. Men have a clear biological advantage in Track & Field which focuses on disciplines that test at the most basic levels, strength, speed, and endurance," Massie said.

"It is a chief of all lies, intellectually dishonest, and evil to suggest that women in their chosen sport be forced to compete against men that could not be competitive in their biologically correct category be labeled fair."

The protest, organized by former NCAA women's soccer player Sophia Lorey, will occur at the California Interscholastic Southern Section, Division 3, preliminaries in Yorba Linda. A trans athlete from Jurupa Valley High School plans to compete after taking two finals last season.

Last year's state finals drew national attention with competing protests, the arrest of a pro-trans activist for allegedly attacking a conservative activist, a plane flyover displaying a "Save Girls Sports" banner, and Lorey's ejection from the venue.

Jurupa's trans athlete claimed first place in triple jump and high jump, and second in long jump. Trump's Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California state agencies for alleged Title IX violations last July.

Trump's administration followed with a targeted investigation of Jurupa Valley Unified School District in January. The U.S. Department of Education said it would probe JUSD and 17 other institutions for potential Title IX violations.