In this first episode of a new podcast published on Thursday, the Democratic governor of California, Gavin Newsom, a LGBTQ ally, broke with his group, saying that the transgender athletes played in female sports are “deeply unfair.”
“I think it’s a problem of justice. I completely agree with you on that. It is a problem of justice. It is deeply unfair,” said Newsom in his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.”
Newsom’s comments were produced during a conversation with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who directs the conservative Turning Point USA and played a fundamental role in obtaining youth support to President Donald Trump in the 2024 elections.
Newsom, sometimes seen as a 2028 presidential hopeful, also agreed that the political announcement that harmed former Vice President Kamala Harris as in his presidential campaign was his previous support to provide medical care related to the gender transition financed by taxpayers to detainee immigrants and federal prisoners. Trump’s campaign had backed his comments on a widely circulated ad.
“She didn’t even react to that, what was even more devastating,” said Newsom.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, speaks at East Los Angeles College, on February 26, 2025, in Monterey Park, California.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Newsom also pointed out his own work to expand LGBTQ rights, while referring to the current law in the State of California that allows transgender athletes to participate in school sports that reflect the genre with which they identify.
Newsom himself was a pioneer in the expansion of LGBTQ rights: in 2004, as mayor of San Francisco, he allowed same -sex marriages to proceed despite the fact that they were not yet allowed throughout the country.
He referred to that moment as he argued his alignment with Kirk’s opinions about transgender athletes in women’s sport.
“I have been a leader in LGBTQ places, as, you know, in 2004 [I] He married same -sex couples. And I know we have [a] difference [of] Opinion about matrimonial equality, and that is why I have been in this for years and years, I am not in the background to anyone, “said Newsom, before discussing how people heard about transgender athletes.
A collection of small flags of pride and flags of transgender pride, April 6, 2021, in Reading, Pa.
Ben Hasty/Medakes Group/Reading Eagle through Getty Images, Archive
In the podcast, Newsom also asked for compassion for transgender people, even when discussing the sports problem: “There is also humility and grace. You know, that, it is more likely that these poor people commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way in which people speak to vulnerable communities is a problem with which I have a difficult time.”
LGBTQ rights groups criticized Newsom’s comments, saying that they came in a national reaction to transgender people and their rights.
The human rights campaign, an important national defense and lobby group of LGBTQ rights, said in a statement Shared on social networks That with discussions throughout the country in legislatures about restricting same -sex marriage or transgender rights, “this is not a time to sit politely in front of authoritarian thugs or throw people under the bus to post policies.”
“Signaling trans children to write down political points will never help someone to pay their rental, maintain Medicaid or get a job, but it will make it seem that Governor Newsom believes that our civil rights are at stake,” the organization wrote. “Californians, and all Americans need leaders who have courage in their convictions and who will present themselves to them, in the faces of people who want to see us all in the closet.”
The organization also pointed out a 2013 law in California that allowed students to be part of sports teams that coincide with their own gender identity. The American Union of Civil Liberties Praise the law in 2013 such as “guaranteeing that transgender young people have the opportunity to participate and succeed in schools throughout the State.”
Newsom briefly referred to the law in its discussion with Kirk, highlighting that it was approved before becoming governor.
Two members of the California State Legislature, the Chris Ward Assembly and state senator Caroline Menjivar, He issued a statement Through the LGBTQ LGBTQ Caucus of California, also criticizing Newsom’s comments, saying that they were “deeply sick and frustrated” for what he said.
“Sometimes, Gavin Newsom goes for the profile in courage, sometimes not,” they wrote. “We wake up deeply sick and frustrated by these comments. All students deserve the academic and health benefits of sports activity, and until Donald Trump began to obsess with that, playing in a team consistent with the genre has not been a problem since the standard was approved in 2013.”
President Donald Trump signs the Executive Order of No Men In Women’s Sports Sports in the Eastern Room of the White House in Washington, on February 5, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Images
Newsom’s comments occurred only one month after Trump signed an executive order with the intention of prohibiting transgender athletes in women’s sports. The White House has said that the action is intended to protect women in damage to damage and opponents facing those who say they have an unfair advantage.
LGBTQ defense groups have criticized the action of the administration and general rhetoric as discriminatory and have a sharp approach to transgender rights to the exclusion of economic and other problems.
