Pete Buttigieg Claims Trans Athletes Raise “Serious Fairness Issues”

During NPR’s Morning Edition on July 28, host Steve Inskeep asked former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg what his “approach” is to trans issues. Buttigieg emphasized the need for compassion while acknowledging concerns about fairness in youth sports.

“The approach starts with compassion,” Buttigieg says. “Compassion for transgender people, compassion for families, especially of young people who are going through this, and also empathy for people who are not sure what all of this means for them.”

Buttigieg continues: “I think when you do that, that does call into question some of the past orthodoxies of my party,” he continued. “For example, around sports, where I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women’s sports.”

This has been an arduous year for transgender people in politics and in the media. The Supreme Court has announced that it will take up multiple cases concerning state bans on transgender women in sports, which in turn could potentially lead to a landmark ruling on trans rights in the U.S.

Democratic former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently revealed to conservative media host Megyn Kelly that he harbors anti-trans sentiments. With this recent admission, Emanuel became another in a growing list of Democrats who are dropping transgender rights issues, with many believing that supporting this small community cost the party both Congress and the presidency. Massachusetts Rep. South Moulton and New York Rep. Tom Suozzi have blamed trans people for the loss of the 2024 election. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom has shifted from his previous support of transgender people, hosting multiple anti-trans conservatives on his podcast.

Buttigieg’s claim that there are “serious fairness issues” around transgender people’s participation in sports comes despite studies that recognize that there is no scientific basis for banning trans women from playing sports with cis women, and that trans women might face several competitive disadvantages in competition against cis women. Several LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have pointed out that such bans affect far more than the limited number of transgender student-athletes. According to information from GLAAD, fewer than 10 transgender student-athletes compete among the NCAA’s 510,000 athletes. Bans have led to documented cases of cisgender girls being falsely accused of being trans and subjected to harassment or invasive screening.

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