Experts have said athletic ability varies greatly across gender, based on many factors not exclusive to sex assigned at birth. And scientific reviews, including one by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, show biomedical factors related to puberty do not predict athletic performance.
Newsom signed a bill into law Oct. 13 that requires the creation of a state commission to study inclusion in youth sports, including of trans youth. The commission has been alternately praised and criticized — while some Democrats have championed the study as a means to improve access for all children, regardless of gender identity, some advocates worry the commission could serve as a back door ban for trans kids.
For GOP legislators, the bill is seen as a means to oppose President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for a blanket ban on transgender female athletes who compete in women and girls’ sports.
While Newsom has styled himself as a champion for LGBTQ+ rights, and as San Francisco mayor, engaged in civil disobedience to allow gay couples to marry at City Hall, his podcast interview with Kirk alienated many LGBTQ+ constituents, as the federal government and red states continue to chip away at hard-won progress.
“As health and LGBTQ advocates who have been bolstered by Governor Newsom’s past support, we feel profoundly betrayed and outraged by his remarks,” Dannie Ceseña, director of the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, said in a written statement after the episode was released. “Trust has been shattered.”
Still, months later, Newsom stood by his statements to Kirk.
“There’s some nuance here,” he told KQED. “And so I said what I thought. And you know what? I can’t tell you how many people have a similar point of view, but don’t say it publicly.”
