Students at Riverside’s Poly High School rallied Wednesday, Aug. 20, to protest a Riverside school district social media post they say allowed the bullying of a transgender athlete who was criticized by President Donald Trump and others at a state track meet.
That same athlete — Jurupa Valley High School’s AB Hernandez — is alleged to be the reason that Poly forfeited a girls volleyball game last week, though the Riverside Unified School District will not say why the team made that decision. Hernandez, who appears to be on Jurupa Valley’s volleyball team, has been targeted online in response to the Riverside district’s post announcing the forfeit, protesters said.
RELATED: Riverside Poly forfeits girls volleyball match against Jurupa Valley
More than 20 Poly students stood after school under the shade of trees lining Victoria Avenue in front of the campus. They held handwritten signs with messages about respect and acceptance as they chanted “Kids are kids no matter what.”
“RUSD, through the post they’ve made has given a platform for people to bully a child whether or not they are transgender it is completely inexcusable,” said Nate Firetag, a 15-year-old Poly sophomore and a protest organizer.
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Poly High School student Anaya Anderson takes part in a Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, rally outside the Riverside school to protest the Riverside Unified School District’s social media post announcing that the girls’ volleyball team would forfeit a game last week against Jurupa Valley High School. Students allege the post allowed for criticism of a Jurupa Valley transgender athlete. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
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Poly High School student Anaya Anderson takes part in a Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, rally outside the Riverside school to protest the Riverside Unified School District’s social media post announcing that the girls’ volleyball team would forfeit a game last week against Jurupa Valley High School. Students allege the post allowed for criticism of a Jurupa Valley transgender athlete. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)
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Riverside Unified’s Friday, Aug. 15, Instagram post states that Poly’s girls volleyball team would forfeit its match that day against Jurupa Valley High. The post did not say why the team forfeited, but speculation on social media and parents of Poly players who spoke to Fox News allege the team did so in protest of Hernandez.
The post also said school officials understood that the decision was disappointing.
“We remain committed to providing a safe, positive environment for all student-athletes throughout the season,” the district’s Instagram post states.
Firetag said the district neglected to monitor comments on its post, which let people target Hernandez.
“We want to make sure that people know students are not for this,” Firetag said. “This is not what Poly students stand for. This is not what Poly students want and not what Poly students are going to let happen.”
“Trans kids are kids and no kid is deserving of being attacked,” Firetag said.
In a Wednesday, Aug. 20 statement, Riverside Unified spokesperson Liz Pinney-Muglia did not explain why Poly forfeited the game. She said later that she could not comment on individual students or athletes.
The statement said neither the high school nor district are places for hate but are places where students, staff and families have the right to be safe, included and accepted.
“We stand for a culture of mutual respect and inclusion, and for the safety and dignity of all students,” Pinney-Muglia wrote.
Hernandez is a senior who has competed on Jurupa Valley’s girls varsity volleyball and track and field teams since the 2022-23 school year. Hernandez was the subject of protests during last season’s track and field season. Hernandez placed first in the girls high jump and triple jump events at the California Interscholastic Federation State Championships in May and also finished second in the girls long jump.
Jacquie Paul, a spokesperson for the Jurupa Unified School District, said she could not comment on whether Hernandez is on the team. Paul said she could not discuss a student’s personal information. When asked if Jurupa Valley was given reason for the forfeit, she did not respond.
The CIF introduced a pilot entry program before the state meet that allowed an additional student to compete in the events in which Hernandez entered. The program allowed a cisgender female competitor who was displaced by Hernandez to share placings in those events.
Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda Hernandez, made an Instagram post the day after the forfeited match.
“”L🤍VE, Respect, Dignity, Fairness, Equality for ALL,” she wrote. “When we follow California law and school policies, especially those that protect the rights of ALL students, we are more than just rule-followers. We are respectful, inclusive, and principled citizens.”
The Poly High rally aimed to raise awareness of transgender students and to acknowledge their role in the community, said Zander Hix, a junior and a protest organizer.
“We are standing for the most vulnerable in the community, even though they may not have a voice,” Hix said.
The state and national controversy surrounding transgender athletes has reached Poly, he said.
“I think the community at school is majority supportive of transgender students being on their sports teams,” Hix said.
Poly junior Ella Fortine said Riverside Unified has a responsibility to protect all students and not to pick and choose. The demonstration was about holding the district accountable as a whole and not just over the post, Fortine said.
“You can have nuanced conversations without dehumanizing those athletes,” Fortine said.
In December 2024, some called for the resignation of former Riverside Superintendent Renee Hill after a November lawsuit alleged the district violated students’ First Amendment rights and denied students fair and equal access to athletics. In the federal suit, a Martin Luther King High School student alleged she was replaced on her cross country team by a transgender athlete.
The incident prompted a movement called Save Girls’ Sports.
Several Inland Empire school boards have since passed resolutions calling on the CIF to bar transgender athletes from girls sports. They include the Chino Valley, Temecula Valley and Redlands boards of education. The resolution was brought up in Riverside Unified, but trustees turned it down.
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