Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is a Republican frontrunner in the race for California's next governor, spoke to Fox News Digital about the state's biggest sports issues.

Crean Lutheran High School girls’ track and field athlete Olivia Viola will compete against a trans athlete in the state tournament for the third year in a row. 

Viola watched a trans competitor break her personal record and knock her out of the state tournament last season, and on top of that, she has had to face criticism for speaking out in support of herself and other female athletes. 

As a Christian, the issue is important to Viola, but she also believes it applies to women of all beliefs. But she also suggested that Christians are being unfairly targeted in the pushback against "Save Girls Sports" activism. 

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Olivia Viola of Crean Lutheran competes in the girls high jump during the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School in Moorpark, Calif., on May 24, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

"I would say it’s unfair to everyone, I wouldn’t say it’s specific to Christians, I would say it’s unfair to all women who have to compete against [trans athletes]. But what I do think is unfair is pegging Christians as the bad guys or the bigots for not wanting a male in our spaces," she said.

This year, she can also vote for the first time to do something about it.

With the state’s gubernatorial election coming up this year, and the issue of protecting girls’ sports being at the top of Viola’s issue, Viola is planning to vote for Sheriff Chad Bianco. 

"He’s shown support for us, like, there’s been not very many people who are willing to make a public stance on it, and he’s shown very strong support for us and for women, which is great," Viola said.

Bianco told Fox News Digital in an interview in February that he would use "force" as governor to ensure that girls' sports are protected.

"You force people to not," he said of how to handle schools letting males in girls' sports. "In our high schools and in our school system, if they are going to allow it, we will not fund that. We will not fund the school, we will not provide them with their money." 

Viola has been publicly fighting in the state’s movement to "Save Girls’ Sports" dating back to last year.

"I have received so much positive feedback from other people, saying that like it’s so important and that they’re grateful for what we’re doing to fight for it. So I honestly would say the majority of people think it’s important," Viola said. 

CHAD BIANCO REVEALS HIS CALIFORNIA SPORTS VISION: SAVING THE LA OLYMPICS AND TRANS ATHLETE CRISIS CONSEQUENCES

Olivia Viola of Crean Lutheran competes in the girls high jump at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School in Moorpark, Calif., on May 24, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

A bipartisan survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found the majority of California residents oppose biological male trans athletes competing in women's sports. 

That figure included more than 70% of the state's school parents.

"Most Californians support requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching the sex they were assigned at birth," the poll stated. "Solid majorities of adults (65%) and likely voters (64%) support requiring that transgender athletes compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with. An overwhelming majority of public school parents (71%) support such a requirement."

For Viola’s parents, Tracy and Juan Luis, the issue has caused immense frustration, especially with current Gov. Gavin Newsom after a statement from a source in his office last week that said Newsom "rejects the right-wing 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."

Tracy and Juan Luis slammed the governor for his statement. 

"Newsom used aggressive and weaponizing language against 17-year-old girls. In my opinion, his words were aimed at intimidating female athletes into compliance. These girls complicate things for him, so he would prefer them to stay quiet. That is a terrible thing for a governor to do.  If the governor had any sense of right and wrong he would be applauding these girls for their courage to stand up for women’s rights," the parents said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"In Newsom’s comments there was no discussion about the real root of the problem. He had no response about defying title IX. He had no response about how to fix the very bad policies in California that allow biological males to enter female athletic divisions without any type of clear biological regulations."

The parents added that they believe the issue should transcend individual political and religious beliefs, and are disappointed more people who agree with their side aren't speaking out.

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"Based on how fundamentally different men and women are physically, athletic categories must be based on pure biological reality — this includes a person's age and biological sex — whether they have XX or XY chromosomes. When it comes to athletic divisions, nothing else matters — not political beliefs, not religious beliefs, not affluence, not gender ideology," the statement said.

"If you start to try and blur those lines, you’ve stripped away all credibility for fairness. These girls are not telling people they can’t have ideological beliefs, they simply shouldn’t be a part of determining athletic divisions. One of the most disappointing things for me is seeing how many people support the girls, yet how few people are willing to stand alongside them. I truly think we won’t see a change until everyone who believes that athletics must have clear divisions based on sex, chooses to use their voices."

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson's reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

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