The subject of transgenders in women’s sports has been a hot-button topic of discussion in recent months. It just seems to continue to come up, with people taking signs and standing their ground.

One transgender woman who has been in the news recently is a California resident, AB Hernandez. Recently, the athlete took the podium along with other athletes after they won the state high school track and Field championship on May 31.

The 16-year-old high school student joined the team at Jurupa Valley High School in Southern California. They were able to take the gold for the triple jump, finishing at 42 feet, 2 inches. They also shared second place with Kira Grant Hatcher, who jumped 40 feet 5 inches.

The rules of the event were altered by the California Interscholastic Federation prior to it taking place. The new rule stated that any competitors who lost to a trans athlete would not lose their ranking. In other words, the performance of Hernandez would not affect or reduce what the other female winners would do that day.

In addition, there was an additional biological female student athlete that was allowed to compete in each category where Hernandez would be competing. Despite the clarification, there was a lot of backlash over the involvement in the sport by Hernandez. Dozens of protesters have gone to track meets and before any competition to challenge her participation.

Hernandez has now spoken out on her own behalf. The high school Junior said: “It’s definitely crazy, I get a lot of hate comments, but I’m like, ‘I don’t care.’ [I’m a] 16-year-old girl with a mad attitude. You think I’m going to care?”

The student also said that the protesters who were at high school events were ‘weird’.

Hernandez said: “I wasn’t expecting any of it, to be honest. I was just expecting to go out there and compete alone, but the support was amazing.

“They really made my experience perfect. I will forever be grateful for them because they helped me get through the weekend.”

The athlete said: “I did what I wanted to do. My performance was all I wanted to be good. So all this backlash … I performed my best, so that’s all I cared about.”