Dems are on the run from a transgender wedge issue. Will Newsom save them? | Opinion
In the Capitol, the Democrats in charge always have the last say, and Tuesday was no exception at a hearing on a bill to ban transgender women — individuals who were assigned male at birth but now identify as women — from competing on female school teams. Even Assembly Leader Robert Rivas of Hollister showed up to help kill the Republican legislation.
But then the Democrats’ theater of dominance completely collapsed. A throng of cameras and journalists pursued Rivas as he left the chambers. In a moment of pure acting that deserves no nomination, Rivas pretended to be too busy to answer any questions, with a cellular telephone to his ear.
Try as they might, the legislative Democrats are running away from a transgender wedge issue from which they cannot escape. And they made need somebody who disagrees with them, Gov. Gavin Newsom, to contain the political damage.
“Even Gov. Gavin Newsom, considered one of the most pro-LGBTQ governors in our state’s history, said recently, ‘It’s an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair,’” said Kate Sanchez, the Republican assemblymember from Rancho Santa Margarita who authored the legislation, referring to the governor’s comments about trans athletes on a recent episode of his podcast.
Trump and most Democrats agree on something
The issue of whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in high school and college sports could be the one place where most Democrats and Donald Trump agree.
But they don’t, because Sacramento has become dominated by Democrats who ascended in a culture of identity politics that defies the real-world beliefs of their own constituents. And as the Democratic leadership has drifted farther and farther to the left, the Republicans are getting better and better at seizing on these issues.
Two years ago, it was when Democrats were resisting efforts to consider the repeat sex trafficking of minors to be a serious felony. Last year, it was Proposition 36, when Democrats opposed some fairly modest sentencing reforms to target repeat thefts and fentanyl users that voters approved overwhelmingly. This year’s wedge issue is becoming transgender athletes.
It clearly doesn’t seem to matter that, based on recent Congressional testimony, this issue focuses national interest and outrage on fewer than 10 athletes in American universities. This is a contrived real-world issue on any meaningful scale. Rather, this is far more a matter of principle in a purely political abstract. And it is the Republicans — not the Democrats — who are positioned to have the final say.
Rivas tried to look like a strong leader on Tuesday, showing up in a committee of which he is not a regular member. It was as if he thought he could drive a fatal stake into this issue once and for all.
“I’m not going to support a bill that takes rights away from a protected class of people,” he said Tuesday. “Gender identity is a protected class here in California, just like race, sex and age, and it’s been a protected class for more than a decade. I’m not turning my back on that.”
But as soon as he couldn’t control the room, he ran away.
Not a good look.
Newsom has only one (bad) solution
Newsom shocked a lot of Sacramento Democrats when he said on a recent episode of his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” that transgender women competing in school sports was “deeply unfair.” The governor not-so-subtly moved himself squarely into the national mainstream. According to one New York Times survey, 67% of his fellow Democrats agree with Newsom, as do 94% of Republicans.
Trump has already signed an executive order that bans transgender women from athletic competitions, among other restrictions, such as serving in the military. He has threatened to withhold federal funding from states that refuse to comply. And that was not forgotten by one key Republican in Sacramento on Tuesday.
“Assembly Democrats are radically out of touch with commonsense Californians and the voters will hold them accountable to restore justice and fairness in girls sports,” said Assemblyman Bill Essayli, R-Corona, on the social media platform X. Just hours later, Trump appointed Essayli as the top federal prosecutor in California.
Now, Essayli has a new and powerful platform. Meanwhile, his fellow Republicans are making little secret of their intent to take the issue of allowing trans athletes to participate and compete on sports teams to California voters as an initiative, presumably in 2026. Embedding this into the California Constitution would be such a sad mistake.
In a state with so many substantive crises — insurance, homelessness, housing, health care and energy, to name a few — this symbolic transgender issue refuses to go away. The least bad option increasingly feels like an executive order from Newsom limiting women’s sports competitions in colleges and schools to only individuals who are assigned female at birth. It would shock most Democrats in Sacramento, and it may not withstand legal scrutiny, but at least it would temporarily make this issue go away and force lawmakers from both parties to get back to Sacramento’s real business.
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Dems are on the run from a transgender wedge issue. Will Newsom save them? | Opinion."