I don’t like billionaires. I think having that much money while so many people suffer for lack of resources is immoral.
That said, there’s one billionaire with whom I agree on at least one issue: trans athletes participating in high school sports.
That billionaire is Tom Steyer, and he’s running as a Democrat to be California’s next governor. Currently, Gavin Newsom has that job. I do not like Newsom at all for many reasons. Here are three: Newsom gleefully throwing away the belongings of homeless people for a photo op, his lack of support for transgender people and his foray into podcasting that platformed right-wing extremists.
Steyer, during an interview with the “I’ve Had It” podcast, articulated what should absolutely be the Democratic Party’s response to the nonissue of trans athletes.
“I’m totally in favor of trans athletes in high school,” Steyer said. “When you understand the vulnerability, the stress, the danger of being a trans kid, and you understand almost half of them try to commit suicide, then you think, ‘We’re gonna punish those kids, we’re gonna cut them off from team sport.’ It’s like, no we’re not.”
Damn right, we’re not. All high school students are stressed out, but trans students are especially so because they’re being singled out for harassment from Trump and his party. The country is being told that transgender youth are dangerous and that the only reason they ever go into a public restroom is to raise hell. In reality, they’re in there to pee and are probably worried about being late to algebra class.
This isn’t Steyer’s first time expressing support for trans kids.
“To be clear, this is not some huge epidemic,” he said earlier this month. “This is a right-wing attempt to victimize and villainize already vulnerable and desperate people, and my heart completely goes out to the people who are so sad, feel so rejected, and so unaccepted that half of them would try to kill themselves.”
Republicans, of course, are obsessed with trans athletes. So much so that they are now acting like they give a shit about girls’ sports. Hell, they don’t even give a shit about girls. If they did, they would support free birth control and they wouldn’t be stripping reproductive rights across the country.
To Democrats everywhere, I beg you, be more like Steyer and less like Republicans. Hearing Democrats agreeing with Republicans on this issue is beyond disappointing, as is watching Democrats try to find common ground on the issue of dehumanization.
Honestly, I don’t know anything about Steyer. I do know that he supports taxing billionaires. So that’s something. But I’m in Michigan and have not been following the California governor’s race very closely. I do know that California leads the way on a lot of progressive issues, so it is important that Democrats win this one.
But folks aren’t thrilled with the Democrats right now. And for good reason. We’ve got the most nakedly corrupt administration in the White House and a Republican Party that believes that a suburban mom deserved to get shot in the face for protesting ICE terrorizing her neighborhood.
And yet Democrats don’t seem to be able to do a very good job of differentiating themselves from a party full of proud racists who are working overtime to subvert democracy so that they can cement their power despite how unpopular they are.
Like, the bar is real low, Democrats. And yet.
We’ve got Democrats voting for anti-trans legislation. We’ve got Democrats greenlighting Trump’s unqualified nominees. We’ve got Democrats trying to justify Trump’s war in Iran.
And, yes, not all Democrats. But even one is too many.
People are already voting in California. Election Day is June 2. So by the time you’re reading this, Steyer may very well be on his way to challenging the Republican pick in the November 3 election. Or not. Steyer is currently polling in second place. But polls are not election results.
The front-runner is Xavier Becerra, former California attorney general and the guy who previously had RFK Jr.’s job. Becerra has also defended trans athletes, though not as straightforwardly as Steyer.
“Trans folks are people, and we owe them the ability to protect them and their rights,” Becerra told NBC 4 News. He also said that there are “probably more Americans getting hit by lightning than trans Americans wanting to play in girls’ sports.”
He’s not wrong there. The number of trans athletes is very small, which makes the absolute fit conservatives are throwing about girls sports that much more egregious.
Whoever wins the election, they would have to try hard to do worse than Newsom on this issue. It’s worth noting that both Republican front-runners oppose transgender existence. So, go vote, my California friends.