The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, was criticized Thursday for the comments he made about transgender inclusion in women’s sports and girls in the debut episode of his podcast.
The guest Charlie Kirk asked Newsom, a prominent conservative who founded Turning Point USA, about the podcast problem “This is Gavin Newsom.”
“The young man who is about to win the state championship in the length jump in women’s sports, that should not happen,” Kirk said. “You, as governor, should leave and say no. Would you do something like that? Would you say there are no men in Female sports? “
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The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, speaks at a press conference in Sacramento, California, on March 16, 2023. (Photo AP/Rich Pedroncelli)
“I think it’s a problem of justice. I completely agree with you on that. It is an equity problem, it is deeply unfair,” Newsom told Kirk. “I am not struggling with the problem of justice. I totally agree with you.”
Kirk pressed Newsom even more about whether he would condemn the recent victory of a transgender athletics athlete with a jump of more than 40 feet in Juraupa Valley High School in southern California. Newsom did not directly approach the victory, but said “it is a problem of justice.”
“So, it’s easy to call that,” he said. “There is also humility and grace … it is more likely that these poor people commit suicide, have anxiety and depression. And the way people speak to vulnerable communities is a problem with which it also happens to me.
“So, both things that I can sustain in my hand. How can we address this problem with the type of decency that I think, you know, it is inherent to you but not always expressed on the subject?”
Newsom, who agreed that the issue was something that the Democratic Party is “crushed”, faced the criticisms of conservatives and liberals for their comments.
While Newsom said that Kirk agreed that there was a problem of “justice” when it was trans inclusion in women’s sports, California has resisted the executive order “No Men in Women’s Sports” by President Donald Trump that prohibits biological men from women’s women and sports.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order that prohibits transgender athletes to compete in female sporting events or girls in the East Room of the White House of February 5, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said last month that it would continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s and girls sports, citing state law.
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“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect and compete in educational experiences in accordance with the California Law. [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] that allows students to participate in school programs and activities, including sports teams and contests, according to the student’s gender identity, regardless of the gender that appears in the student’s records, “said a CIF statement at that time.
Pak Gazette Digital reacted to CIF for its reaction to the latest Newsom comments.
Riley Gaines, the former NCAA athlete who houses the Podcast “Gaines for Girls” of Outkick and has defended justice in women’s sports, was one of the conservatives who spoke.
The prominent defenders of LGBTQ also took blows to Newsom.
“Gavin Newsom knows that trans youth in the sports issue is a ridiculous and right-wing propaganda effort. He knows that this works with the hate Anti-trans, not the reason,” Charlotte Clymer wrote in X. “And, nevertheless, he still chose to support attacks against trans young people to reinforce his national profile for a 2028 race.
“He decided to treat trans young people as disposable negotiation chips in his effort to please Anti-Trans conservatives. He has decided that trans young people, one of the most vulnerable groups in the country, is a fair game. And he did it in an interview with Charlie Kirk, who has spent his career into human people in the race.
A protester agitates a flag of trans pride during the increase in the concentration of young Trans against the executive actions of President Donald Trump aimed at transgender people in Union Square in New York on February 7, 2025. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
California Chris Ward assembly and Senator Caroline Menjivar also issued a joint statement. They are the president and vice president of Caucus LGBTQ LGBTQ of California.
“Sometimes, Gavin Newsom goes for the profile in courage, sometimes not. We wake up deeply sick and frustrated by these comments,” they said, through Kcra-TV. “All students deserve the academic and health benefits of sports activity, and until Donald Trump began to become obsessed with that, playing in a team consistent with the genre has not been a problem since the standard was approved in 2013.”
Earlier this week, Senate Democrats blocked the protection of women and girls in the sports law to break a filibuster. The bill received 51 votes but needed 60 to eliminate a procedural obstacle.
