California Gov. Gavin Newsom has split with his fellow Democrats on the topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Newsom, speaking to conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on his new podcast, called transgender athletes competing in women’s sports “deeply unfair.”
Driving the news: While Newsom has long been at the forefront of supporting LGBTQ issues in California, his new podcast – “This is Gavin Newsom” – appears to be an effort to find some common ground with conservatives.
- When he announced the podcast last month, Newsom said he would regularly have guests that are part of the Make America Great Again movement and allies of President Donald Trump.
What he’s saying: Kirk asked Newsom to come out against AB Hernandez, a transgender high school student who is competing in the triple jump event in girls’ track and field.
- Newsom didn’t directly say that men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports when pressed, but he did say he agrees that it is unfair.
- “I think it’s an issue of fairness,” Newsom said. “I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair. I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
- Newsom went on to say that he reveres sports, given that he played college baseball, saying “the issue of fairness is completely legit.”
- Newsom talked about former Vice President Kamala Harris’s support for transgender rights, saying it was devastating that she did not even react to an ad against her that discussed her support for providing taxpayer-funded gender transition operations for prisoners.
- Newsom added that Republicans are winning political points across the nation for their effort to ban transgender people from girls’ sports, which Democrats blocked earlier this week in the Senate.
- “I agree with you,” Newsom said to Kirk. “We’re getting crushed on it. Crushed. Crushed.”
Democrats respond: California Democrats quickly came out against Newsom for his comments on the podcast.
- Asm. Chris Ward (D–San Diego) and Sen. Carolina Menjivar (D–San Fernando), who lead the LGBTQ legislative caucus, rebuked Newsom in a statement.
- “Sometimes Gavin Newsom goes for the Profile in Courage, sometimes not,” they said. “We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks.”
- Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) lauded Senate Democrats for pushing against the bill to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports, saying it is “profoundly disturbing” that Newsom agreed with Kirk on the topic.
- “Trans people are just trying to live their lives,” Wiener said in a statement. “They’re facing a level of political hostility that leads to violence and homelessness. They need their allies to stand with them – especially when it’s hard.”
