Newsom says trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports is ‘deeply unfair’
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SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom — an outspoken champion of LGBTQ+ rights since he was mayor of San Francisco — called transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports “deeply unfair” in his new podcast Thursday, splitting from his party on an issue that Republicans capitalized on in the presidential election.
The Democratic governor made the comments during the premiere episode of his new show, “This is Gavin Newsom,” in which he sat down for a 70-minute conversation with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, a loyal supporter of President Trump and right-wing opponent of same-sex marriage.
Kirk raised the issue of transgender athletes as one of many areas where Democrats were out of touch with most Americans and said it’s unfair to allow people born as biological men to compete against women.
“The issue of fairness is completely legit, so I completely align with you, and we’ve got to own that,” Newsom said. “We’ve got to acknowledge it.”
From the outset, the governor billed his podcast as featuring conversations with “some of the biggest leaders and architects in the MAGA movement.” In the initial episode, Newsom largely listened to Kirk’s dissection of the presidential election and the vulnerabilities of the Democratic Party that allowed Republicans to take control of the White House and Congress.
Newsom, who shared his own critiques of his party, spent more time agreeing with the right-wing figure and offering his appreciation for his perspective than debating their opposing views. The approach aligns with the governor’s recent retreat from his role during the election as a fighter for Democratic values and a top GOP critic as he seeks to maintain a respectful relationship with Trump.
Gar Culbert, a political science professor at Cal State Los Angeles, said Newsom’s comments suggest he’s “certainly testing the waters” for a future presidential run as he begins to divorce himself from his liberal California persona and boost his national potential by appearing more mainstream.
“He’s got a lot of time between now and a possible 2028 campaign and California isn’t the constituency he has to appeal to anymore,” Culbert said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom met with President Trump on Wednesday as he seeks federal disaster aid for the Los Angeles County wildfires.
Newsom’s comments on transgender athletes drew swift criticism from other Democrats, who viewed his agreement with Kirk as abandoning a small and vulnerable community already under attack from Republicans.
“It’s devastating and depressing, particularly coming from a governor who has been such a courageous ally of our community,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco).
During the podcast, Kirk pointed to the case of AB Hernandez, a California transgender high school track athlete, as well as the San Jose State women’s volleyball team, which was recently embroiled in controversy after players and an associate coach tried to have a trans player removed from the roster.
Newsom agreed with Kirk that Democrats are getting “crushed” on the issue and said Republicans were able to weaponize it in the presidential election despite the reality that very few transgender athletes participate in women’s sports. He also acknowledged the struggle faced by trans people.
“There’s also a humility and a grace that these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with,” Newsom said.
Transgender Americans are making plans to leave the U.S., saying they fear President Trump’s policies targeting their healthcare, travel documents and ability to live as they wish. Some already have.
Wiener cited similar reasons as to why the governor should not participate in the Republican demonization of transgender people. There are fewer than 10 transgender athletes in NCAA women’s sports out of 510,000 athletes, he said.
“The polling on this is terrible because the public has been completely misled about even the scale of this issue,” Wiener said. “It’s not a problem. It’s not an issue. There are some kids who want to play and just let them play. There’s not that many of them and the Republicans have blown it out of proportion.”
Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward (D-San Diego), the chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said he was “profoundly sickened and frustrated” by Newsom’s remarks.
“This is an incredibly rare circumstance, where somebody who is transgender, and, by the way, is well enough and is able enough to be able to successfully compete in sports,” Ward said. “So if this is what we want to spend 90% of our time focusing on, we are losing sight of why people actually send us to Sacramento to work on California’s biggest pressing problems.”
Children’s Hospital L.A. is easing recent restrictions on hormonal treatment for transgender youth, reversing a move that set off protests outside the hospital.
Others praised the governor on social media for representing the views of many Democrats.
Newsom earned national attention in 2004 for marrying same-sex couples in San Francisco.
He signed a law last year that banned school districts from requiring teachers to notify the parents of children who wish to be identified as a different gender. He also broke with LGBTQ+ activists in 2023 when he vetoed legislation that would have asked judges presiding over custody battles to take into consideration a parent’s support for their child’s gender identity.
The topic of sports wasn’t the only issue involving transgender people where Newsom disagreed with his party’s position during the podcast.
The Trump campaign ran an ad during the 2024 presidential election focusing on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ support in the 2019 Democratic primary for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgery for inmates. The ad featured Harris talking about her past efforts to provide access to care for transitioning inmates in California prisons.
Harris countered that her position was consistent with Trump administration policy at the time. The ad alleged that Harris supports transgender women competing “against our girls in their sports.” During the campaign, Trump said he would ban transgender women from women’s athletics.
“Kamala is for they/them,” the ad said. “President Trump is for you.”
Newsom, who also briefly tried to break down the campaign rhetoric about her support for the issue with reality, called the decision to air the ad during NFL football games “brilliant.”
“Devastating,” Newsom said. “And she didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating.”
Newsom also distanced himself from some aspects of Democratic “wokeism,” telling Kirk that no one in his office ever used the inclusive term “Latinx,” or started a meeting by sharing their preferred pronouns.
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