California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the most prominent Democratic party voices, said Thursday on his new podcast that it’s “deeply unfair” to allow transgender women to participate in women’s sports, marking a turn for a politician who first made national headlines when he issued marriage licenses for same-sex couples as San Francisco mayor in 2004.
Newsom is already facing blowback from his own party after comments he made in the debut episode of his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom.”
The podcast is being touted by Newsom as a way to “change the conversation” by talking directly to people on the opposite side of his politics. In the first episode, released Thursday, Newsom sits down with conservative media figure Charlie Kirk from Turning Point USA.
Newsom waded into the issue of transgender athletes after Kirk mentions the recent news of a high school trans athlete in California who won a girls’ triple jump event.
“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness, it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said.
Further into the conversation, Newsom talked about a Trump campaign ad that ran ahead of the 2024 presidential election, which highlighted then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ previous support for gender-affirming care for incarcerated people.
“She didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating,” Newsom told Kirk.
Newsom’s comments seem to run counter to the governor’s longstanding support of the LGBTQ+ community.
After the podcast debuted Thursday, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus released a statement calling Newsom’s comments “anti-transgender.”
“Sometimes Gavin Newsom goes for the Profile in Courage, sometimes not. We woke up profoundly sickened and frustrated by these remarks,” said Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) and state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Burbank) in a joint statement.
The LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality California also criticized Newsom’s comments, saying they were “disappointed and angered.”
“His comments are all the more harmful in the context of the continued attack on the rights and dignity of transgender people happening at all levels of government across the country,” the group said in a statement.
Newsom’s personal social media pages have been promoting the podcast, including reposting a picture of him and Kirk with the caption “We had quite the chat!”
