Gavin Newsom breaks with Democrats on trans athletes in sports
The Democratic California governor made the stunning remarks in his debut podcast with conservative guest Charlie Kirk.
Christopher Cadelago
Indeed, the 75-minute interview presented Newsom in the opposite light than he appeared in over recent years when
stumping as a surrogate for former President Joe Biden and Harris and
sparring with ideological foes like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and
Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
Newsom in the podcast also was self-deprecating — joking that he only eats meals (including grabbing take-out) at the famed three-Michelin star French Laundry where he got considerable heat for attending a friends’ party during Covid lockdowns and conceding that he should have been celebrating at the everyman eatery Applebee’s.
On youth trans sports Kirk drew out a longer response.
There are relatively few transgender athletes competing at the collegiate level. But Newsom said it was “easy to call out” the unfairness, echoing concerns raised by Republicans in Washington and across the country who argue that banning trans women and girls from participating in school athletic competitions designated for female athletes would ensure fairness.
While Newsom has at times touched on his own concerns about the issue, particularly around youth sports, the remarks on his eponymous new podcast are his most expansive on the topic.
He went on to express sympathy for trans people, noting “these poor people” have higher rates of suicide and depression and saying “the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with, as well.”
Yet, Newsom said Kirk was right when he contended that Republicans were capitalizing politically by painting Democrats as out of step with a strong majority of Americans on the issue. Earlier this week, Senate Democrats blocked a GOP-led effort to bar transgender girls from female youth sports.
“I agree with you,” Newsom said. “We’re getting crushed on it. Crushed. Crushed.”
Newsom noted his own leadership on issues of LGBTQ+ rights but he said even some of his friends have privately asked him why he’s not been more vocal about trans athletes.
He said the authority for trans K-12 athletes competing in girls’ and womens’ sports
came from a 2014 state law — signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown — that also allowed students who identified as transgender to use school bathrooms “consistent with their gender identity.”
Newsom compared his position on trans athletes to conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage on principle — saying he values that Kirk and others are not abandoning their opposition now that gay marriages are both legally and socially acceptable by a majority of Americans.
They gonna get the most left leaning politicians who also have a big base already behind them.
