Billionaire California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer said he fully supports transgender-identifying males playing on females’ high school sports teams — despite concerns over women’s safety and fairness in athletics.
Steyer, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), made the comment during an interview on the I’ve Had It podcast with far-left host Jennifer Welch, which was released Sunday.
“You talked about trans people. I’m totally in favor of trans athletes in high school,” Steyer said.
“I think when you understand the vulnerability, the stress, the danger of being a trans kid, and you understand that almost half of them try to commit suicide,” he said, citing a stat not backed by rigorous science.
He went on to argue that excluding confused males from girls’ sports would isolate vulnerable students.
“And then you think we’re going to punish those kids. We’re going to cut them off from team sports. We’re going to cut them off from participating in the community. We’re like, no, we’re not. No, we’re not,” he said.
He went on to largely dismiss concerns from female competitors who are disenfranchised by having biological males compete on women’s teams.
“And, you know, as someone who played sports my whole life and loves sports and loves playing sports, they’re more important things than whether you start on your high school basketball team,” Steyer said. “And that is standing up for people who are under threat of death.”
Steyer is one of several Democrats vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom once his term ends. Other Democrat candidates include former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, former California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, former California State Controller Betty Yee, and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.