![\"Gov.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SAC_0750_260220_JV_Gov_Newsom.JPG\" "\\"Gov.")
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Gov. Gavin Newsom makes a point at the opening of the San Quentin Learning Center on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS<\/p>\n
jvillegas@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed back Friday on concerns that he has softened or shifted away from his past support for the LGBTQ community and other minorities to win back the young men drifting away from the Democratic Party on the last leg of his book tour promoting his new memoir.<\/a><\/p>\n Newsom has pushed for his party to widen its tent by being \u201cmore culturally normal\u201d<\/a> to win back Millennial, Gen Z, and young men of color who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. He has frequently appeared on podcasts popular with the \u201cmanosphere,\u201d a loose collection of online communities that revolve around men\u2019s interests like fitness, cryptocurrency, video games and sports.<\/p>\n Journalist Paola Ramos, who interviewed Newsom at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami with her father, Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos, asked the California governor if he had come to identify with the extremely online young men he was trying to reach.<\/p>\n \u201cl\u2019ll take off my journalist hat, and put my lesbian Latina hat on,\u201d Paola Ramos said. \u201cWhen we hear you say things like, \u2018Democrats need to be more culturally normal,\u2019 is that them influencing you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, no,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cThat was in relation to a particular issue, related to some issues in our prisons and gender assignment surgeries that just don\u2019t appear to be normal for a lot of folks.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom previously said at the New York Times\u2019 Dealbook summit in December<\/a> that Democrats needed to be more \u201cculturally normal\u201d and offer a positive economic vision for voters disgusted with the United States\u2019 wealth inequality and the Trump administration.<\/p>\n He doubled down to CNN<\/a> that Democrats needed to be \u201cless prone to spending disproportionate amount of time on pronouns, identity politics,\u201d prompting criticism from the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus<\/a>, which previously criticized him for siding with conservatives on wanting to bar transgender athletes from school sports.<\/p>\n The LGBTQ caucus did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.<\/p>\n For over a decade, California has had laws in place to protect transgender people from discrimination in the workplace, gym locker rooms, and schools. Most polls show voters<\/a> rank the economy, voting rights, gas prices and other cost-of-living issues as higher priorities than transgender rights.<\/p>\n The issue of allowing transgender inmates to serve their sentences in facilities that correspond to their gender identities<\/a> has been more politically fraught for Democrats.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Trump campaign ran attack ads saying \u201cKamala is for they\/them, President Trump is for you,\u201d claiming she supported funding reassignment surgeries with taxpayer dollars while she was state attorney general.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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