Gavin Newsom Criticizes Trans Athletes in Women’s Sports
The Democratic California governor conceded in a recent podcast that allowing trans athletes to compete in women's sports is "deeply unfair."
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has drawn the ire of the LGBTQ community for stating that allowing transgender women to compete against cisgender female athletes is “deeply unfair.”
Newsom made the remarks on the inaugural episode of his podcast, This is Gavin Newsom, in which he seeks to interview “the biggest leaders and architects in the MAGA movement.”
In the episode, Newsom interviewed conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk, executive director of the conservative youth-focused Turning Point USA.
Newsom asked Kirk what advice he would give to the Democratic Party.
“Get better ideas, governor,” Kirk replied, before railing against transgender inclusion in sports, specifically a transgender high school athlete who won the triple jump event at a California track and field invitational.
“You, right now, should come out and be like, ‘You know what? The young man who’s about to win the state championship in the long jump in female sports — that shouldn’t happen,'” Kirk said. “You, as the governor, should step out and say, ‘No.'”
“I think it’s an issue of fairness,” Newsom replied. “I completely agree with you on that…. It’s deeply unfair.”
Newsom added that there’s “a humility and a grace” with which people can talk about or debate transgender rights and inclusion within society, but that Democrats are “getting crushed” on the issue.
He also praised President Trump’s ad attacking former Vice President Kamala Harris over her past support for allowing incarcerated transgender people to access gender-affirming care as a “great ad.”
“It was devastating,” Newsom said of the ad, which painted Harris as out of touch with most Americans’ views on transgender issues and more concerned with what many cisgender people dismiss as niche concerns than issues like immigration, crime, and inflation. “And she didn’t even respond to it, which was even more devastating.”
Newsom, who some have speculated could be a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, is the highest-profile Democrat to buck the party’s current position on transgender athletes.
U.S. Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) previously criticized Democrats as out of touch with the American public for their stances on transgender participation.
Two other Democrats — U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, both of Texas — voted earlier this year for a nationwide ban on trans athletes on female-designated sports teams, which passed the House of Representatives in January.
But last week, Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted along party lines against moving forward with debate on a nearly identical bill pushing for a trans athlete ban.
Newsom’s willingness to embrace right-wing talking points on transgender rights came as a shock, particularly in light of his generally pro-LGBTQ record and a decision last year to sign a bill into law that prevents school staff from “outing” LGBTQ students to their parents.
Newsom’s verbal concessions to Kirk drew condemnation from fellow California Democrats and LGBTQ advocates, who argued that the number of transgender people who compete in sports is already minuscule.
“WTF. Trans people and LGBTQ+ people are under attack. We don’t need our gov caving to conservative talking points that further hurt and scapegoat 1% of the population,” California State Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose) wrote in a Bluesky post.
“The Governor has had many courageous moments over the decades supporting LGBTQ people, including helping turbo-charge the marriage equality movement, protecting LGBTQ kids against forced outing and criminalization, and protecting trans people from criminalization in other states,” California Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) said in a statement. “This is not one of those moments. Charlie Kirk is a vile bigot, and standing with him on this issue is profoundly disturbing.”
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