Newsom Says It’s ‘Deeply Unfair’ to Allow Men in Women’s Sports

The California governor says Democrats were ‘crushed’ for supporting transgender athletes in girls’ sports in his new podcast with guest Charlie Kirk.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters at the Davis Ranches in Colusa on Dec. 10, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

In his new podcast “This is Gavin Newsom” on March 6, the California governor, a Democrat, told his first guest Charlie Kirk, a Republican, that he agrees it’s unfair to allow males to compete in female sports.

“It is an issue of fairness—it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said in the 70-minute podcast.

When Kirk asked Newsom if he would speak out against a high school transgender athlete from California, Kirk said he could see Newsom wrestling with the question.

Newsom countered, “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”

Newsom noted that it was in 2014—years before he was sworn in as governor in 2019—that a California law went into effect allowing athletes to participate in female sports according to their gender identity.

The governor said he felt empathy toward the transgender population.

“The way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well, so both things I can hold in my hand,” he said. “How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think is inherent in you but not always expressed on the issue, and at the same time deal with the unfairness?”

Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA and host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” told The Epoch Times in a text message after the podcast that if Newsom was serious, he should “immediately issue an executive order preventing men from being in women’s sports.”

“Anything short of that shows he is a fraud on this issue,” Kirk said.

Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point U.S.A., shown in this 2024 file photo, was a guest on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new podcast. Terry Wang/The Epoch Times

Newsom has described his podcast as a platform for “honest discussions with people that agree and disagree with us.”

During the episode, Kirk referred to a recent poll showing a large majority of Americans don’t want men competing in women’s sports, telling Newsom that Democrats are handing Republicans “an 80-20 issue” that could provide a political advantage.

The New York Times/Ipsos survey of 2,128 respondents conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 10 found that 79 percent of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think male athletes who identify as female should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

“I agree with you. We’re getting crushed on it. Crushed. Crushed,” Newsom replied, saying that even people within his own friend circle were concerned about the issue.

“People say, ‘What the hell is going on? Why aren’t you calling this out?’”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of his new podcast, "This is Gavin Newsom," on Feb. 26, 2025. Gov. Gavin Newsom's Office

Californians Respond

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and LGBTQ Legislative Caucus member, criticized Newsom and Kirk in a March 6 statement.

“The Governor has had many courageous moments over the decades supporting LGBTQ people ... He has taken significant political hits for doing so. I and so many will be forever grateful for that courage,” Wiener said. “This is not one of those moments.

“This week, Democrats in the U.S. Senate took a courageous vote against a bill to ban trans athletes, some at great political peril.”

The lawmaker was referring to a bill that failed to advance on March 3 after being rejected by Senate Democrats that would have banned athletes who identify as transgender from participating in women’s and girls’ school athletic programs.

Of 510,000 National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes, fewer than 10 are trans, Wiener said.

Payton McNabb (C), former high school athlete who was injured by a volleyball spike from an opposing male player who identified as transgender, is recognized by President Donald Trump as he speaks during an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 4, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

California Assemblyman Alex Lee, a Democrat from Palo Alto who is also an LGBTQ Caucus member, also criticized Newsom in a March 6 post on the social media platform X. “Trans people and LGBTQ+ people are under attack. We don’t need our [governor] caving to conservative talking points that further hurt and scapegoat 1% of the population.”

Erin Friday, a co-leader of Our Duty, an organization that opposes gender ideology, told The Epoch Times in a text message that she is taking the governor’s words “with a grain of salt.”

If the governor means what he says, Friday said, he should support Assembly Bill 844, proposed state legislation that would require sex-segregated sports and girls’ and women’s spaces such as bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers, to be based on sex, not gender identity.

“He is always shifting for self-interest and political gain,” she said. “Now let’s see if he will support AB 844.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports,” on Feb. 5 and said in his inaugural address on Jan. 20, “It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”

During a speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, Trump recognized Payton McNabb, a North Carolina former volleyball player who was severely injured when a transgender athlete spiked a ball that hit her in the face. Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer known for her campaign against men competing in women’s sports, also attended the session.