Cat Zingano wins No. 1 contender scrap over Leah McCourt at Bellator 293

• April 1, 2023

TEMECULA — Talk about a reversal of fortune for Cat Zingano.

The top-ranked featherweight turned the tables on four Leah McCourt takedowns and delivered enough damage to win a unanimous decision in a well-fought Bellator 293 co-main event Friday night at Pechanga Casino Resort.

The judges scored it 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 for the former UFC bantamweight title contender, who fights out of San Diego.

The entertaining scrap appeared to be a No. 1 contender bout – and Zingano said she wants to be champion while taking a jab at the current titleholder.

“I mean, right now it sounds like the belt is vacant half the time,” Zingano said, taking a shot at featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, who has embarked on a boxing career while awaiting an opponent and accusing Zingano of ducking her.

Cyborg responded to a tweet asking for comment: “Ask her who’s picture is hanging in @BellatorMMA champions row. Who’s on the posters in her locker room?”

Ask her who’s picture is hanging in @BellatorMMA champions row. Who’s on the posters in her locker room?

— CrisCyborg.Com (@criscyborg) April 1, 2023

Zingano outstruck McCourt 48-44, but McCourt scored four takedowns to Zingano’s one. But it was Zingano’s ability to escape from the ground, as well as bruise and bloody McCourt’s face, that helped get her hand raised.

McCourt (7-3) appeared to control the opening round, but she emerged from it with a significant welt under her left eye. Felicia Oh, however, scored all three rounds for Zingano (14-4).

The 40-year-old Zingano, giving up 10 years to the taller and seemingly bigger Northern Ireland 145-pounder, grappled effectively to negate McCourt’s efforts and displayed domination on the mat in the second round. The scorecards reflected that, with all three judges scoring it for Zingano.

“I’m hard to keep on my back. I’ve heard that before,” Zingano said. “She’s really tall and really strong and a lot of body. I’m not used to that, still, at this weight class. Yeah, I knew it was going to be a tussle with her, and it was going to be a lot of work.

“What I do know is I know how to cause damage and a lot of it. I think the damage made up for some of the transitional periods, and here we are.”

McCourt scored an early takedown to open the third round and held the position for half the round. Zingano scored her most important reversal, possibly saving her the fight.

As they rose against the cage, Zingano drove a knee to McCourt’s face and busted her open. Oh and Michael Bell scored the round for Zingano, while Chris Crall gave it to McCourt.

what a cut pic.twitter.com/mk3w8MxDCt

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 1, 2023

In other main card fights …

James flattens Golm: Heavyweight Daniel James opened the third round by flooring Marcelo Golm before calling out champion Ryan Bader.

The Chicago big man wound up on an uppercut and landed flush. A left and well-placed right sent Golm (10-4) stumbling and onto his face for the finish just 26 seconds into the round.

𝗛𝗘’𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧! @djames1981 storms out of the gates in round 3 and gets the KO!#Bellator293 | Watch LIVE on @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/3RYahPnsTV

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 1, 2023

In his postfight interview, James (15-6-1) respectfully asked for a title shot. Bader, who was in attendance, rose to his feet and appeared to welcome the challenge.

Salter goes out on top: John Salter (19-6) put an exclamation point on his 14-year MMA career by dominating Aaron Jeffery for a unanimous-decision victory.

All three judges scored it 30-27 for the 38-year-old middleweight, who announced he was retiring after the win, in which he often grappled successfully and worked for submissions on Jeffery (13-4).

Colgan cracks Montalvo: In a battle of unbeaten lightweights, Archie Colgan continued to lay a claim for stiffer competition after his first-round TKO of Justin Montalvo. Colgan (7-0) dropped Montalvo (5-1) with a right hook and later followed with eight punches to the downed 155-pounder before the fight was stopped at 3:33 of the opening round.

Trainer taps Cauley: Luke Trainer (7-1) needed just 2:58 to tap out Sullivan Cauley (5-1) via rear-naked choke. The British light heavyweight afterward proposed to his girlfriend in the cage.

​ Orange County Register 

Pacifica baseball knocks off Villa Park in Loara Tournament final

• April 1, 2023

ANAHEIM — Pacifica’s pitching duo of Chad Gurnea and Logan Brady blanked Villa Park to give the Mariners a 4-0 win in the championship game of the Loara Tournament Friday at Brookhurst Park.

Pacifica (14-2) beat Yorba Linda, JW North, Fountain Valley and Bishop Amat previously in the baseball tournament that began in early February. The championship game had been rescheduled twice due to rain.

Pacifica entered this week ranked No. 12 in the Orange County Top 25 and Villa Park was ranked No. 4.

Gurnea, a Cal State Fullerton signee, pitched four shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out five to earn the win.

“Coming into the first inning I had a bit of adrenaline facing a good lineup like Villa Park,” Gurnea said. “As the game went on I realized that we were in this game for a reason. If we play our game, good things will happen.”

Pacifica’s Chad Gurnea pitched four shutout innings and earned the win as the Mariners defeated Villa Park 4-0 in the Loara Tournament final on Friday, March 31, 2023. (Photo by Michael Huntley)

“Big players come through in big games,” Pacifica coach Mike Caira said. “He’s been doing this since his sophomore year. He hit his spots and credit goes to the defense too.”

Brady pitched the remaining three innings to earn the save. The senior scattered five hits and had one strikeout.

“Logan was lights out,” Caira said. “He and Chad have a healthy competition and they kept the shutout intact against one of the top teams around.”

Andrew Krodel was effective on the mound for VIlla Park (11-3) as well. The UC Santa Barbara signee allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.

Pacifica left runners on base early in the game, but got timely hits when it was needed. With runners on second and third in the fourth inning, Jayson Juarez hit a run-scoring single to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

Juarez went 2 for 2 with a walk and two RBIs to lead Pacifica’s offense.

Pacifica added three runs in the sixth inning. Juarez drove in a run with a bunt single and Ryland Chastain drove in two runs with a single.

Caira turned to senior Chastain to pinch hit with the bases loaded. Chastain was an everyday player for last season but hasn’t been in the lineup as frequently this season.

“He’s a senior who hasn’t gotten it going a lot and I told him he was going to get in,” Caira said of Chastain. “He got in and came up big. The big smile on his face was awesome and I’m really happy for him.”

Villa Park got two runners on in the seventh inning, but Brady drew a groundout to third base to finish the game unscathed.

Texas A&M signee Gavin Grahovac and senior Geoff McArthur each had two hits for Villa Park.

Villa Park has a Crestview League game Saturday against Foothill. The Spartans beat Foothill 6-1 on Tuesday in the first game of the series.

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Pacifica will continue Empire League play next week with a two-game series against Crean Lutheran.

The Mariners are 2-0 in league play and have a marquee matchup against perennial league champion Cypress to end the regular season.

“The Empire League is tough so hopefully we can take care of business,” Caira said. “Crean Lutheran is tough so don’t sleep on them. We will try to make up some games and pad our schedule with good teams and hopefully take care of what we need to do at the end of the year.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers lose to Diamondbacks on late home run

• April 1, 2023

LOS ANGELES ― The Dodgers began the new season without a designated closer, a calculated risk after questions persisted throughout spring training about who would inherit a ninth-inning save situation.

The question of who would pitch the eighth inning was a less frequent topic of conversation, but it was more pertinent Friday.

Left-hander Alex Vesia allowed a two-run home run to pinch hitter Kyle Lewis in the eighth inning, sending the Dodgers to a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks before an announced crowd of 45,389 at Dodger Stadium.

“The ball was a little down in the zone today, and I gave up the one hit, and just one bad pitch,” Vesia said.

Vesia (0-1) was scheduled to face two left-handed hitters and a switch hitter, Geraldo Perdomo, to begin the inning. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo replaced all three with right-handed pinch hitters. After Nick Ahmed grounded out, Vesia allowed a double to Evan Longoria.

The next batter, Lewis, pounded a 2-and-1 slider over the inner half of the plate into the left field bleachers to give the Diamondbacks the lead.

It was Vesia’s first regular-season game with pitch-timer penalties in effect, but neither he nor Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believed the timer caused him to hurry.

“Alex, he’s tried and true. He’s been good for us. And he had the experience in spring training” with the pitch timer, Roberts said.

Dodgers starter Dustin May was brilliant over seven shutout innings, allowing three hits, one walk, and striking out four. Perhaps buoyed by a bit of adrenaline in his 2023 debut, May’s four-seam fastball touched 100 mph in the first inning. It was down to the 95-98 range by the seventh, but May was able to retire 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.

The Dodgers did little to support him on offense, putting at least one runner on base in each of the first six innings without scoring a run.

The game was still scoreless until Mookie Betts tagged Diamondbacks reliever Drey Jameson (1-0) for a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. May was suddenly in line for the victory.

“I like going deep into games, giving teams the best chance to win,” he said. “I had a low pitch count. It was a low-scoring ball game. It was a good game all around.”

Arizona quickly turned the tables against Vesia and forced Roberts to bring in his best reliever, Evan Phillips, to finish the eighth inning. Phillips got Christian Walker to fly out to center field on the only pitch he threw.

The Dodgers sent the top of their lineup – Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith – to the plate in the ninth inning. Betts drew a walk against right-hander Scott McGough, then was forced out at second base when Freddie Freeman grounded out against left-hander Andrew Chafin.

Chafin got Smith to ground out, then retired Max Muncy on a pop fly to end the game.

The Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. They collected only five hits and nine walks in the loss. Miguel Vargas reached base in all four of his plate appearances (three walks and a double).

“We had traffic,” Roberts said. “We squared some balls up versus (Diamondbacks starter Merrill) Kelly, unfortunately they were just right at those guys.”

May returned to the Dodgers last August following a 15-month recovery from Tommy John surgery. His results were uneven.

May made six starts last season. Three (two against the Miami Marlins, one against the San Francisco Giants) went well. Three others (two against the Padres, one against the Diamondbacks) did not. Fourteen of the 15 earned runs on his ledger came in the three poorest starts, and the Dodgers left May off their National League Division Series roster.

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May’s spring training results (a 2.95 ERA in 18-1/3 innings) were more encouraging. The 84 pitches he threw Friday were his most in a game since last September. He had never completed seven innings in a major league start.

“We went in with a game plan,” May said. “I thought we executed it well.”

With David Peralta on first base and nobody out in the second inning, the Dodgers attempted their first stolen base of the season. Peralta was initially ruled safe by second base umpire Ryan Blakney. The Diamondbacks challenged the call, however, and Peralta was ruled out after a lengthy review.

The next batter, Vargas, hit a double to the right-center field gap with the bases empty. That was the closest the Dodgers came to scoring a run until Betts’ home run.

The Dodgers used a patient attack to knock Kelly out of the game in the fourth inning. But they could not advance a runner past second base against Kelly or Jameson.

​ Orange County Register 

Los Alamitos softball shuts out Mission Viejo in Carew Classic opener

• April 1, 2023

ANAHEIM — The top of the batting order for Los Alamitos’ softball team got pitcher Berkley Vance more runs than she needed in the Griffins’ 3-0 victory over Mission Viejo in the opening round of the Michelle Carew Classic Friday at Peralta Canyon Park.

Vance, a senior who has signed with Seattle University, allowed three hits and struck out seven to earn a complete game victory and help the Griffins improve to 9-2.

“Berkley was on,” Los Alamitos coach Robert Weil said. “She had some good stuff today. She had some good strikeout pitches.”

The Griffins (8-2) are the top-ranked team in Orange County and No. 2 team in the CIF-SS Division 1 poll. They advanced to face Orange Lutheran in a second-round contest Friday night.

The Lancers defeated Mater Dei Catholic of Chula Vista 3-0 in its opening-round game Friday behind a 20-strikeout, two-hit performance by Brianne Weiss.

Mission Viejo (8-7-1) is the No. 8 team in the county top 25.

Griffins cleanup hitter Allyssa Ramos doubled home Julie Holcomb in the top of the first to give her team a 1-0 lead.

Later in the inning, Taryn Clements singled in Gabby Terrones and Camryn Johnson to make it 3-0.

Vance cruised through most of the game but needed help from her team’s team to get out of minor jams in the fifth and sixth innings.

Mission Viejo had a runner on second with one out in the fifth when Ramos, the Griffins’ catcher, made a quick throw to second, catching the runner between second and third.

Second baseman Isabella Rodriguez then made a hard throw to third baseman Giselle Alvarez, who put the tag on the runner for an out before she could make it to third.

“Ramos picking the kid off second base was huge,” Weil said.

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The Diablos had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth when Vance retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and a pop out in the infield.

“We executed,” Weil said. “That is the biggest thing.”

Mission Viejo starting pitcher Sofia Elliot settled down after the first inning, allowing two hits over the next four innings

Reece Uehara pitched the final two innings for the Diablos and allowed one hit.

​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks, Saturday, April 1, 2023

• April 1, 2023

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, April 1, 2023.

Trouble viewing on mobile device? See consensus picks

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​ Orange County Register 

Caitlin Clark, Iowa end South Carolina’s unbeaten season in Final Four

• April 1, 2023

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer

DALLAS — Caitlin Clark overwhelmed the reigning champions with another sensational game, scoring 41 points to help Iowa spoil South Carolina’s unbeaten season with a 77-73 victory on Friday night in the Final Four.

The spectacular junior guard set a record for the highest-scoring semifinal game and became the first women’s player to post back-to-back 40-point performances in the NCAA tournament. She now has the Hawkeyes in a spot they’ve never been in before – one victory away from a national championship.

“We had nothing to lose. I have all the confidence in the world in this group, and they believe right back in me, and that’s all you need,” Clark said. “All we do is believe in one another and we love each other to death, and that’s what a true team is. If you want an example of a team, that’s what this is.”

They’ll have to beat another SEC team to do that as Iowa (31-6) will face LSU in the title game on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers beat Virginia Tech, 79-72, in the first semifinal.

It’s the Tigers’ first appearance in the title game as Kim Mulkey became the second coach to take two different teams to the championship game.

Thanks to the spectacular play of Clark and the historic season by South Carolina, this was one of the most talked about and highly anticipated matchups in women’s Final Four history,

The game lived up to the hype surrounding it – the best player vs. the best team – much to the delight of the sellout crowd of over 19,000 fans.

Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina (36-1) had won 42 in a row, including last year’s championship game.

“It was physical. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” Clark said. “They’re a tremendous team, they’ve had a tremendous year, obviously so well-coached.”

This was Iowa’s first appearance in the Final Four in 30 years. The last time the Hawkeyes advanced this far was 1993 and C. Vivian Stringer was the coach of that team that lost to Ohio State in overtime.

Clark wowed the crowd that included Harper Stribe, a young fan of the team who has been battling cancer. She was featured in a surprise video that informed the Hawkeyes’ star that she was the AP Player of the Year.

“I love me some Caitlin Clark,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “We’ve been talking about being mission-focused a lot this year, and we had a game plan and these guys executed so well. That is South Carolina we just beat, folks. Amazing.”

Clark has put on quite a show since coming to Iowa. She led the nation in scoring twice and last weekend had a game for the ages, recording the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to lead the Hawkeyes to the Final Four.

Now she has them on the doorstep of more history.

Trailing 59-55 entering the fourth quarter, South Carolina scored the first five points to take the lead. Clark answered right back with two deep 3-pointers and an assist to Monika Czinano to give the Hawkeyes a 67-62 lead.

South Carolina got within 69-68 on Raven Johnson’s 3-pointer before Clark got a steal for a layup with 3:32 left. Neither team scored again until star Aliyah Boston was fouled with 1:37 left. She made the second of two free throws.

Clark then scored another layup on the other end out of a timeout to make it a four-point game. After a layup by Zia Cooke made it a two-point game with 58 seconds left, the Hawkeyes ran the clock down with McKenna Warnock grabbing a huge offensive rebound off a Clark miss with 18 seconds remaining.

Clark hit two free throws after South Carolina fouled her with 13.5 seconds left. They were her 38th and 39th points, moving her past Nneka Ogwumike for the most points scored in a Final Four semifinal game.

After a putback by Johnson with 9.9 seconds left got the Gamecocks within 75-73, Clark sealed the game with two more free throws.

As the final seconds went off the clock Clark threw the ball high in the air and galloped around the court.

The loss ended a spectacular season for the defending champion Gamecocks, who were trying to become the 10th team to go through a season unbeaten.

Cooke led the Gamecocks with 24 points. Slowed by foul trouble, Boston had just eight points and 10 rebounds as the Hawkeyes packed the paint, daring South Carolina to shoot from the outside.

The Gamecocks finished 4 for 20 from 3-point range and couldn’t take advantage of their 49-25 advantage on the boards, which included 26 offensive rebounds.

1,000-POINT CLUB

Clark became the sixth player to score more than 1,000 points in a season. She joined former Hawkeyes star Megan Gustafson, breaking her school mark of 1,001. Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist also reached that milestone this season. Kelsey Plum, Jackie Stiles and Odyssey Sims were the others to do it.

​ Orange County Register 

Huntington Beach in showdown with JSerra in the National High School Invitational baseball final

• April 1, 2023

An Orange County baseball team again will be the champion of the prestigious National High School Invitational.

Huntington Beach (11-6) plays JSerra (9-6) in the tournament’s championship game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PDT at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, NC.

Orange County teams have won seven of the nine NHSI tournaments, with Huntington Beach winning it in 2016.

It was an all-Trinity League matchup in one of Friday’s semifinals. JSerra defeated Santa Margarita 4-1. Huntington Beach beat Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas 3-2 in the other semifinal.

JSerra scored all of its runs in the first inning. Charlie Caruso, a junior who is committed to Northwestern, was 2 for 3 and Cal-signed senior Dominic Smaldino drove in two runs.

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND #NHSI23 pic.twitter.com/H31bjHYsmK

— USA Baseball Events (@USABEvents) March 31, 2023

Lions junior right-hander Matt Champion, an LSU commit, pitched a complete game. He gave up six hits while striking out four. Champion pitched a complete game in a 2-0 win over Santa Margarita on March 16.

Santa Margarita’s Logan de Groot had two hits. Eagles pitcher Brennan Bauer shut out JSerra for the final six innings.

Huntington Beach senior shortstop Dean Carpentier, a USC signee, was 4 for 4 against Bishop Gorman. Senior first baseman Ralphy Velazquez, an Arizona State signee, had a sacrifice fly for the Oilers. Senior pitcher Brad Grindlinger threw four scoreless innings.

Huntington Beach secures its spot in the #NHSI23 CHAMPIONSHIP pic.twitter.com/lhyiU71BMn

— USA Baseball Events (@USABEvents) March 31, 2023

Santa Margarita (14-3) will face Georgia’s Blessed Trinity (20-3) in a consolation matchup Saturday at 3 p.m. PDT.

Santa Margarita is No. 1 in the Orange County Top 25,while JSera is No. 5 and Huntington Beach is No. 7.

Both games for the Orange County teams Saturday will be streamed live on USABaseball.TV and @USABaseballTV on YouTube.

Huntington Beach, JSerra and Santa Margarita will play in the Boras Classic South tournament that begins April 11 at JSerra and Mater Dei.

​ Orange County Register 

‘Visibility isn’t enough,’ Los Angeles activists say at march for transgender rights

• April 1, 2023

A wave of anti-transgender legislation sweeping the country prompted queer activists and allies to organize “Trans Day of Vengeance,” a protest during the nationally recognized Trans Day of Visibility on Friday, March 31.

“Transphobia has got to go!” activists yelled, waving flags and signs while marching down Hollywood Boulevard, as honking cars drove by.

With growing attacks and discriminatory legislation on the rise, at least 200 activists on Friday marched to demand safety and equality for this community, especially vulnerable trans and queer youth — many of whom are targeted in recent bills, ranging from bathroom bills, to drag show and trans athlete bans. The march in Hollywood coincided with Trans Day of Visibility events from the Inland Empire to the coastal L.A. area to Orange County.

Marliese Hegele found Friday’s Hollywood event through TikTok, where queer content creators had been promoting local, state and national protests.

“I just wanted to show support for my community. I mean, there’s hundreds of anti-trans legislation bills being proposed, even in states that you would think would be safe,” Hegele said. “And then there’s actually ones that are horrific that are going through and being passed. And it’s very, it’s very terrifying.”

The march began on the corner of Highland and Hollywood in Los Angeles. Securing the crowd were community members who wore all-black garb, blocking their faces. Their goal was to secure the protesters, keeping an eye out for violent opposition.

While there were some police present, the community-led security helped protect the identity of protesters, especially youth, by blocking onlookers with cameras with signage and umbrellas.

Leading up to Friday’s demonstration, President Joe Biden officially recognized the movement in a proclamation on Thursday, March 30. California lawmakers also recognized as Trans Visibility Week with several events at the Capitol.

A self-proclaimed “craftivist” named KoKo handed out self-protection items that she made of resin.

“The cops aren’t here to keep us safe… they’re not gonna stand here and make sure that we’re not being attacked,” she said at the march. “Trans people are not people to be terrified of.”

In 2022, the majority of transgender and gender non-conforming people killed were transgender women, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Transgender people of color accounted for the majority of victims, over 76%, with Black transgender people accounting for a plurality (19, or over 56%).

Ronnie DeVreux had tears in his eyes, watching his husband Thaddeus join the crowd of organizers in the street. Both are trans.

“All my cis (gender) friends, all my cis workers, everyone, are completely in bliss,” he said. “They’re not aware of anything that’s going on. They don’t know how much pain I’m in.”

Trans Day of Visibility was originally established in 2009 by trans activist Rachel Crandall-Crocker, the current head of advocacy group Transgender Michigan. Since its creation more than a decade ago, events have grown in popularity to honor the death of trans activists, celebrate the lives of trans folks, and raise awareness of ongoing violence and discrimination.

The “Trans Day of Vengeance” moniker came from a meme that had been in the trans community for years. Activists say it is a “more radical” take on the same circumstances, one that is highly critical of pacifism towards state terrorism, hatred towards transgender people and respectability politics.

Ahead of the national event, Twitter removed more than 5,000 tweets and retweets of a poster promoting the Washington D.C.  “Trans Day of Vengeance” rally staged Friday, which was later canceled due to safety concerns for those involved.

In a tweet, Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of Trust and Safety, cited that the poster’s verbiage “incites violence.” But on its website, organizers said it does not condone violence, and in a statement strongly rejected any connection between the shooting at a school in Nashville and the planned protest.

“Vengeance means fighting back with vehemence,” the D.C. protest’s organizers wrote on their website. “We are fighting against false narratives, criminalization, and eradication of our existence.”

According to a 2023 anti-trans bills tracker published on translegislation.com, there are 489  bills in 47 states. As of this reporting, 421 are active as 25 have passed and 43 have failed. In 2022, 26 bills of the 174 bills proposed (15%) passed, most of which target trans and queer youth.

The bills targets range from restriction from access of gender affirming care and safety (such as bathroom bills), drag show bans and trans athlete bans.

“We refuse to live in fear. We refuse to be eradicated,” stated the rally’s call to action posted on a queer activist Instagram. The term eradication was used by a far right Daily Wire commentator, Michael Knowles, during a Conservative Political Action Committee gathering in early March. Knowles has previously stated that genocide against Transgender people is not possible because “they are not a legitimate category of being.”

The transgender community has always been threatened with violence, but activists predict that the onslaught of anti transgender legislation perpetuates violence.

On Friday, other community events recognizing Trans Day of Visibility were held in downtown Riverside, Long Beach, Pomona and Santa Ana.

Pomona’s march, which was organized by the Pomona Pride Center, went from the center to Pomona City Hall.

Frank Guzman, the groups’ president and executive director, said that while LGBTQ+ Californians are “a little more lucky” than residents of some other states, the recent surge in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments was hitting closer to home.

“It opens a door for more to come,” he said. “And so we need to be prepared, and need to fight it right off the bat.”

Long Beach resident Zo Woodard came to the resource fair held at the city’s Bixby Park.

“I feel like some places don’t have things like these and it feels like a safe space,” Woodard said.

But while many celebrated, others want their message to be heard loud and clear: that “trans rights are human rights.”

Related links

This is how you can celebrate, advocate during International Trans Day of Visibility
Transgender Day of Visibility rallies held amid political backlash
Bill would force California schools to tell parents if their child is transgender
Transgender youth: ‘Forced outing’ bills make schools unsafe
GOP lawmakers override veto of transgender bill in Kentucky
Florida sued over transgender youth care bans

Bree Serrano, an adjunct faculty in ethnic and women studies at Cal Poly Pomona, said that this latest wave of anti-transgender legislation will bring more queer people to seek safety in parts of the West — including in California.

Serrano added that, much like with the matter of women’s reproductive rights, these safe “havens” must make strong, concerted efforts to increase protections for gender-affirming care for children and adults alike.

“This is going to ban trans children from becoming adults,” they said. “It really perpetuates the notions that anything that exists outside of white, cisgender straightness should therefore be eliminated, and not allowed to exist in public. A concept at the detriment of children when, meanwhile, there are still guns killing children and people killing children with guns.”

Staff writers Christina Merino, Roxana Kopetman, Kristy Hutchings and Sarah Hofmann contributed to this report. 

​ Orange County Register