Governor Gavin Newsom defended California’s radical transgender policies—including a law prohibiting schools from requiring teachers to notify parents if their child identifies as a gender inconsistent with their biological sex—when confronted by late-night host Bill Maher.
In a Friday night appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Newsom described his own party as “toxic” and “judgmental” and urged Democrats to “mature” beyond cancel culture on hot issues, suggesting they need to adapt if they want to beat Republicans in future elections.
Maher asked pointedly, “What do you say to people who say, ‘Well, this all sounds very good. But governor, you were the poster boy for a lot of this [woke] stuff’?”
“I see today the Trump administration . . . talked about the fact that California had a rule that schools cannot be required to notify parents if their kids in school have changed their gender, their pronouns,” the late night host said. “That’s the kind of thing — even though it doesn’t affect a lot of people — that makes a lot of people go, ‘Well, you know what? That’s the party without common sense.’”
Newsom disputed that characterization.
“I just disagree with that. I mean, the law was you would be fired, a teacher would be fired if a teacher did not report or snitch on a kid talking about their gender identity,” he explained. “I just think that was wrong. I think teachers should teach. I don’t think they should be required to turn in kids.”
Maher challenged his guest’s description of teachers turning in or snitching on children to their parents, before the Democratic politician continued in his explanation.
“What is the job of a teacher? It’s to teach. If Johnny’s talking about some identity issue or some issue about liking someone of the same sex, is it the teacher’s job to then report that?” Newsom asked rhetorically. “In this law, the teacher can still do that. But they can’t be fired if that’s not what they do. I just think that was fair. I don’t think that’s inappropriate.”
In July, Newsom signed the first-of-its-kind transgender parental-notification policy into law. The legislation, which went into effect on January 1, has since faced legal challenges and drawn the ire of the Trump administration.
On Thursday, the Department of Education informed the governor’s office that it is investigating California’s gender identity law based on allegations that it violates parental rights. The law also prohibits schools from requiring personnel to disclose a student’s sexuality.
The California governor’s comments come weeks after he launched his own podcast in which he often hosts conservative guests. In the podcast’s debut episode that aired earlier this month, Newsom spoke with Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk in part about transgender issues.
Notably, Newsom diverged from the Democratic Party’s commitment to transgenderism when he shockingly admitted that male athletes participating in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.” The statement contradicted California law allowing men to compete with women in college and youth sports and permitting transgender students to use school restrooms that align with their gender identity.
Still, the Democrat stood by the blue state’s transgender sports participation policy on Maher’s show, calling the exclusion of two transgender-identifying athletes “unfair.”
Two years ago, California “had two extraordinary athletes that got into the state finals — trans athletes,” Newsom said. “The backlash was so bad they didn’t even compete, and the other two people that were kicked out weren’t able to compete. It was fundamentally unfair.”
The governor seemingly referred to the transgender controversy at a May 2023 high school track and field championship, where two male athletes did not show up to compete due to the intense backlash surrounding their participation.
Newsom is being floated as a potential frontrunner in the 2028 presidential election for the Democratic Party, which could explain his recent shift in messaging. When pressed by Maher, he avoided directly answering whether he is running for president. Newsom’s second term ends in 2027.