Gavin Newsom sidesteps question of boys in girls' sports by passing bill to study inequality in youth athletics

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the "Youth Sports for All Act" into law, which requires that a commission be created to study whether a new centralized entity in the state is needed to regulate access to youth sports.

The new commission would assess the need for a centralized entity to improve "access to and involvement in sports for all youth, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, income, or geographic location."

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones had urged Newsom to veto the bill, writing in a September letter that the commission created under Assembly Bill 749 "is required to improve access to and involvement in sports for all youth, regardless of a number of demographic factors, including 'gender identity.'"

"Given that state government, including the public school system and the California Interscholastic Federation, broadly support biological males competing against biological females in sports, it is apparent that any such 'Blue Ribbon Commission' will do little to nothing to protect biological females from unfair competition against biological males in organized youth sports in California," Jones continued.

"AB 749 is really just a disguise to actually further cement allowing biological males to compete against young women and girls in youth sports."

The bill’s author, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, told the Los Angeles Times in response to Jones’ letter, "Senator Brian Jones’ time would be better spent writing to the Republican controlled Congress to end the Trump Shutdown and reopen the federal government, rather than attacking trans students."

The commission will seek to address whether a new commission would address issues such as "disparities in youth sports programming quality and availability," and "how to foster a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for youth sports," among other issues.

Newsom previously admitted that it's "deeply unfair" for biological males to be competing against females. He told the late Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk in the first episode of Newsom's podcast that men competing in women's sports is an "issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It is deeply unfair."