California Governor, and potential Democratic Presidential nominee, Gavin Newsom has defended his long record of supporting transgender rights while also reiterating his belief that trans women competing in women’s sports presents fairness concerns.
During an interview with journalist Katie Couric, Newsom was asked how he responds to critics who accuse him of undermining the trans community through his stance on transgender athletes and his calls for Democrats to focus less on trans-related political debates.
Newsom responded by highlighting what he described as an extensive record of pro-trans legislation.
“I have signed more pieces of pro-trans legislation than any elected official in the country. Period. Full stop. And I can back that up,” he said.
The governor also spoke about personal connections to the community, noting he has a transgender godson and has advocated for LGBTQ+ rights long before the issue became widely discussed in national politics.
“I’m doubling down on all of that and the grace that people just want to survive and just want to live their lives out loud,” he said.
Concerns Over Competitive Sports
Despite his broader support for trans rights, Newsom said he remains unconvinced that trans women competing in women’s sports can always be considered fair in competitive settings.
“I cannot back up an argument in favour” of trans women participating in “a competitive sports environment,” he said, referencing recent controversies in California high school athletics.
Newsom pointed to track and field competitions in the state, where he said some athletes felt displaced by transgender competitors.
“I don’t think it is on the sports side,” he said, suggesting he believes fairness questions remain unresolved.
High School Sports Controversy
One recent debate in California involved high school athlete AB Hernandez, a transgender student who qualified for the state track and field finals in the long jump after outperforming a cisgender competitor.
The situation quickly became national political news. Former US president Donald Trump criticised Hernandez’s participation, calling it “not fair and totally demeaning to women and girls”. He also threatened to withdraw federal funding from California unless the state complied with his executive order banning trans athletes from competing in sports aligned with their gender identity.
In response, the California Interscholastic Federation introduced a pilot measure allowing additional cisgender female athletes to compete in the 2025 state championships if they had qualified had Hernandez not placed ahead of them.
Evidence on Trans Athletes
While the debate remains politically charged, research indicates that transgender athletes represent a very small number of competitors nationwide.
Studies also challenge claims that trans women hold a consistent athletic advantage. A major analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that after one to three years of hormone therapy, transgender women and cisgender women show broadly comparable levels of athletic fitness.
Political Fallout
Newsom’s comments have surprised some Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates, particularly after he previously agreed with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports could be “deeply unfair”.
He also said that a 2024 campaign advertisement by Donald Trump criticising then–Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting gender-affirming care for incarcerated transgender people was “devastating” to her presidential campaign.
More recently, Newsom told CNN that Democrats may struggle politically unless they appear more “culturally normal”, a phrase some critics interpreted as suggesting the party should avoid focusing heavily on identity-related issues.
“From the prism of purely politics, there’s no doubt that the Democratic Party needs to be — dare I say — more culturally normal,” Newsom said.
He argued that Democrats should spend less time debating pronouns or identity politics and more time addressing everyday economic concerns such as energy bills, childcare, healthcare and housing costs.
At the same time, Newsom maintained that Democrats must find a balanced approach to the sports debate.
“If you can’t hold the line on competitive sports… if we can’t find that nuance, I think we’re going to lose a lot of people,” he said.
Debate Over “Identity Politics”
Data from the 2024 election cycle suggests Republicans spent far more time and money highlighting transgender issues than Democrats themselves.
Republican campaigns invested around US$215 million in television advertising that criticised Democratic positions on transgender rights, often focusing on claims about transgender athletes and gender-affirming healthcare for incarcerated individuals.
Democrats, by comparison, reportedly spent only about US$9 million responding to those attacks. Some LGBTQ+ advocates criticised the party for not defending transgender people more forcefully.
Notably, the Democratic National Convention did not feature a transgender speaker, and trans issues were mentioned only briefly in a speech by Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson.
Newsom’s Mixed Record
While Newsom has signed several pro-LGBTQ+ measures into law, his record has also drawn criticism from some advocates.
Last year he approved a series of LGBTQ+ rights bills and signed the Youth Sports for All Act, which directs a commission to expand access to sports for young people regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, income or location.
However, he also vetoed legislation that would have helped ensure access to hormone replacement therapy medications during a period when some hospitals and clinics were restricting gender-affirming care.
For many observers, the governor’s recent comments reflect the broader political tension surrounding transgender rights in the United States — a debate that continues to divide both political parties and the public.
