Dear Governor Newsom

This morning, I woke up to a text from a friend and a link to an article about an interview Governor Gavin Newsom did with Nazi sympathizer Charlie Kirk on his podcast. Apparently, Gavin "totally agrees" with Charlie Kirk about transgender athletes. I have been trying my best to stay sane as our country spirals into authoritarianism, but this shit is going to break me. I hope you'll read the article and send your own note to our governor, who deserves A LOT of angry calls and emails from constituents. I'm including the letter I wrote to him below:

SUBJECT: Abandoning Trans Kids Will Not Win You Elections

Governor Newsom,

I'm writing to express my outrage and disappointment at your recent comments about trans athletes, and to express my anger about your decision to capitulate to the bad faith argument of conservative trolls like Charlie Kirk (who you've decided to platform, I'm assuming because of some misguided idea that it will illustrate your ability to appeal to young conservative men). 

Though you may think you’re “just saying what everyone else believes,” what you’ve actually done is participate in the bullying of a handful of children. What you have actually done is abandon vulnerable kids when they need you the most. What you have actually done is illustrate that you're just like every other politician – willing to side with the oppressor if it will win you favor with bigots, instead of rolling up your sleeves and doing the hard work of persuading people to evolve.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Americans are reeling. Your voters, which includes me, are angry. For some, that anger translated into voting for a disruptive candidate like Trump, a person they see as willing to tear down government and the status quo (and boy is he delivering in ways that will harm every single one of us for decades to come). For the rest of us – and please let's not capitulate to the false claim that Trump won some overwhelming majority of voters, FIFTY PERCENT OF US DID NOT VOTE FOR THIS CHARLATAN – our anger is directed at the people we elected to fight for us, the people we thought were brave enough to speak truth to power, who would fight for our children, for our rights, and for the people in this country who need champions.

I am furious and heartbroken over your choice to bro out with a man who is quoted as saying, “I’m sorry, if I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ‘Boy, I hope he’s qualified,” or that women in their thirties are “not in their prime” or “as attractive in the dating pool,” who believes that white privilege is a lie, perpetuates anti-Semitic tropes to his followers, denigrates women, denies climate change is real, spreads dangerous misinformation, and who has advocated that birth control makes women “angry and bitter.” I know you’re smarter than this. So the only explanation for your comments that I can come up with is that you’ve calculated a path to power through courting disaffected young men instead of doing the hard work of building coalitions among the millions of Americans who are watching in horror as men like Charlie Kirk destroy our democracy. 

When it comes to trans people, I’m sure you know that less than two percent of Americans are trans. You’re right that Trump’s they/them commercial was effective — bigotry and scapegoating a minority often is. There are fewer than ten NCAA trans athletes competing at a college level. There is absolutely no evidence that they have a biological advantage over their fellow athletes, particularly when they have received gender affirming care preventing them from undergoing the wrong puberty (something the Trump administration wants to do away with, which would lead to catastrophic and deadly consequences for these kids). Though there's no evidence that trans athletes have a biological advantage, let's just state the obvious here: most talented athletes have biological advantages — there aren’t very many short basketball players, for example, and have you seen Michael Phelps's wingspan? Which biological advantages are just a natural gift and which must be legislated by the government? And where do you draw the line? Certainly you don't believe the ridiculous notion that children are undergoing transition in order to win at sports?

The ten college athletes you’ve thrown under the bus are teenagers, but let’s take your argument to its logical conclusion (the conclusion that the Trump administration is arguing for and that is trickling down to athletic programs all over the country): the world you’re arguing for is one where trans kids are barred from participating in sports entirely. The vast majority of kids play sports to learn about teamwork, to hang out with their friends, to get some sunshine and exercise, to play. You’re helping to usher in a world where trans children will be further excluded from important milestones of American childhood. Your comments, as well as the glib way you shrugged off respecting others’ pronouns, only serve to make this country a harsher place for trans people. Trump and the Republicans are trying to eradicate trans people from public life. You are helping them. Period.

By the way, nobody cares if you put your pronouns in your email signature, or if you use the term "Latinx." People are dying, Governor Newsom, and you're legitimizing the idea that the Democrats are the language police. You're taking a GOP talking point and saying, "You're right," instead of saying, "You guys are the ones playing identity politics. You are the ones who are policing speech." Nobody has legislated the sharing of pronouns to begin a meeting. Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting everyone to feel comfortable, but if it's so offensive to you to create a spirit of inclusion, do whatever you want. Why would you agree with the absurd premise that sharing pronouns in a meeting is the same thing as relentlessly harassing or discriminating against a trans colleague? Why not call out the ridiculousness that premises the right's obsession with gender?

My disappointment and heartbreak is overwhelming. I have been a proud Californian for my entire adult life. I have voted for you multiple times. I am devastated and furious that you have decided to callously throw a minority group under the bus to gain favor with people who want to subjugate women and do away with diversity. Whatever points you believe this wins you with conservatives, I hope you know that the rest of us are appalled. History will remember this moment of weakness and capitulation, and so will we.

You were elected to be a leader in a dark and troubling time. We have trusted you to guide our state through a rise in authoritarianism, and the chipping away of democracy. You have long positioned yourself as an outspoken critic of the most corrupt President our country has ever elected. When Trump won, I was incredibly grateful to be a Californian because I believed you would present a forceful opposition. Instead, one month in, you have your sights set on the 2028 national stage, and are turning away from equality and human rights in order to win favor with people who will probably never vote for you. It’s gross, predictable, and we can see through it. 

Our country (and humans in general) have a long history of scapegoating minorities to build coalitions of the powerful. Eventually, and through great struggle, the culture does change. Human beings are flawed and tribal to a fault, but in an increasingly diverse world, growth is inevitable. Trans people have always existed. They will always exist. How much suffering, death, and indignity people have to suffer to earn the equality that is their God-given right is up to politicians, but the arc of the moral universe eventually bends toward justice.

Your comments were patronizing and revealing —  “These poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression.” Do you understand why trans people are more likely to commit suicide? It’s not due to some innate connection between being transgender and depression. Again and again, studies show that trans children who are affirmed by their parents and communities have the same rate of depression as cisgender children. The suicide rates of trans folks is directly related to comments like yours, and the craven and specious arguments of bigots like Trump and Kirk. You know what’s depressing? When the government tells you you can't play sports with your friends because of who you are. You know what might make you suicidal? Watching TV in primetime and seeing an ad from the President of the United States that makes a joke out of your existence, or facing an onslaught of executive orders that likens your necessary and life-saving healthcare to “genital mutilation.” Worse, I think, is the fact that leaders of the opposition party, the party of inclusion, are joining in on the bullying. Whoever you’ve won over with this cowardice, you’ve lost many more of us. 

Trans folks are not “poor people,” who need your pity. Trans people have fought for their survival and dignity throughout human history. Trans people have endured endless suffering at the hands of small-minded men in power. Trans people will survive Trump and they will survive the Democrats who put their morality aside to try to win the votes of bigots. But let me be clear: not all trans people will survive – your comments contribute to an environment in which trans folks are in grave danger, and I hope you consider your responsibility and role in what comes next.

What trans people need, and what trans people deserve are politicians who will fight for them, who will stand up to bullies who seek to erase them from public existence. Trans children deserve politicians who understand that being transgender is not a fad or a mental illness. Trans children deserve politicians who will not capitulate to the easy fear mongering of weak and cowardly men obsessed with maintaining patriarchy. 

Finally, I am a cisgender woman. I do not need you to protect me from trans women. Trans women are women, and my sisters in the fight for bodily autonomy. I'm disgusted by the men in power who all of a sudden are obsessed with women's sports. No you aren't. No they aren't. This argument denigrates cisgender women as well as transgender women. The argument that trans women have a biological advantage completely flouts reality, science, logic, and it’s offensive. For every mediocre female athlete who cries that she lost sixth place to a trans woman, there is a professional athlete like Megan Rapinoe, Billie Jean King, or Candace Parker speaking on behalf of her trans sisters. And the Republicans are not stopping at sports. There have been arguments that trans women have a biological advantage in chess tournaments. This argument has always been about the conservative belief that women are weaker and less intelligent than men.

A real leader would say to someone like Charlie Kirk, “I don’t get why you guys insist on bullying ten teenaged girls, maybe we ought to focus on something a little more important to everyday Americans like the incredible economic suffering that got Trump elected in the first place.”

If you want to show how masculine and tough you are, stand up for the people who voted for you. If you want to illustrate that you’d be a President who can appeal to the middle, there might be one lesson you should learn from Trump — don’t capitulate to the other side. Why not stand up for what’s right? Why not say what you actually believe instead of what you think people want to hear? (Unless of course, you believe this, which is even more disappointing). 

In a moment when trans children are listening, you have turned your backs on them. I’m certainly not going to forget this moment. I hope you can turn things around before you contribute further to the harm we elected you to fight.

Thank you,

Eliza Clark