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Governor Newsom: Support Trans People
So much for California being a “sanctuary state”
Today I learned from journalist Erin Reed that California Governor Gavin Newsom recently hosted far-right influencer Charlie Kirk on his new podcast. Rather than challenging Kirk’s anti-trans views, Newsom actually agreed with them. This news was widely reported in other publications as well (The New York Times, Politico, Axios, etc).
On the one hand, I suppose it comes as no surprise that a career politician with presidential ambitions would move to the right along with the rest of the Democratic Party. This also gives more weight to my argument that there are truly no “sanctuary states”, as I recently discussed with Black trans leader Aria Sa’id, who left her position as head of San Francisco’s Transgender District and moved to Houston.
But as a trans California resident who lived in San Francisco during the time Newsom was mayor, I felt I needed to say something. Before my own gender transition in 2013, I participated in and photographed many rallies for marriage equality, which…