Newsom says 8 years old too young to transition

Gov. Gavin Newsom implied in a recent interview that an 8-year-old child is too young to transition gender and acknowledged the issue has become a “major problem” for Democrats.

During an interview with former Navy SEAL and podcast host Shawn Ryan that was posted Monday and spanned more than four hours, Ryan noted that he often hears concerns that Democrat-run states can intervene if a parent does not affirm their child’s transgender identity.

NEW: CA Gov Gavin Newsom goes on bizarre rant after being asked about states taking children away from parents who refuse ‘gender affirming’ care for their kids.

Shawn Ryan: “The state can come in and basically take your kid if you’re against gender affirming care.”

Newsom:… pic.twitter.com/cc1WnkbytQ

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“Yeah, there’s some, there’s some nuanced language around that,” Newsom said, who kept interrupting his own train of thought during his answer.

Newsom admitted he believes the transgender issue helped to kneecap the failed presidential campaign of former Vice President Kamala Harris, highlighting when the Trump campaign disseminated an ad that highlighted Harris’ support for taxpayer-funded trans surgeries for California inmates, including illegal immigrants.

“It was incredibly impactful,” Newsom said of the ad, adding, “removing the humanity — right versus wrong, the morality on either side — politically, it is a major problem for the Democratic Party.”

Ryan pressed Newsom to express his own personal views on trans issues involving children.

“What about for your values? I mean, is 8 years old too young?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, I mean, look — now that I have a 9-year-old, just became 9 — come on, man, I get it. So those are legit,” he said without giving a clear answer.

He claimed he is still trying to come to grips with “novel” LGBT issues.

“You know, it’s interesting, just the issue of age,” he said. “As someone that’s been so focused equality broadly — LGBT rights, particularly gay marriage — the trans issue, for me, is also novel. It’s over the last few years, I’m trying to understand as much as anyone else, [the] whole pronoun thing, trying to understand all of that.”

Newsom went on to pivot to reflecting on George Floyd and how his Hispanic employees told him to stop using the word “Latinx,” before circling back to Ryan’s question and claiming he has not studied the transgender issue for minors very deeply.

“This notion of gender-affirming care for children, that’s tough man,” he said. “And [the] science on that … I haven’t dove [sic] that deep into it, but, you know, I read one report, and then there’s one that’s slightly contradictory, and then they said, ‘There’s no contradictory [sic], here’s what the U.K. just came out with. You’re full of s—, it’s absolutely scientifically sound … ’”

“So it’s intense,” added Newsom, whose four-hour interview with Ryan was peppered with his profanity.

Since the beginning of his administration in 2019, Newsom has signed multiple laws that critics have claimed interfere with the legal parental rights of children experiencing gender dysphoria.

In 2022, Newsom signed SB 107, which claims to protect children and families from out-of-state laws that prohibit or restrict transgender procedures on minors. It also bars California courts from enforcing subpoenas from states that have enacted such laws, while allowing them to take temporary emergency jurisdiction if a minor cannot access such procedures elsewhere.

Last year, Newsom signed AB 1955 (SAFETY Act, 2024), which prohibits school districts from requiring staff to tell parents if their child identifies as transgender or has requested a different name or pronouns.

Critics argued the law undermines parental rights, and prompted Elon Musk to move his X and SpaceX companies out of California in protest last year. The Chino Valley Unified School District joined several parents in filing a lawsuit claiming that it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Newsom has increasingly made appearances on right-leaning podcasts, which some have interpreted as an attempt to distance himself from his liberal political record and render himself more palatable to moderates during a potential 2028 presidential run.