Progressive Sen. Ruben Gallego admits ‘legitimate’ concerns about trans athletes in girl’s sports

Freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, seen by some observers as a possible 2028 Democratic dark horse, has admitted that there are “legitimate” issues with male-to-female transgender athletes competing in women’s and girl’s sports, splitting from many of his fellow progressives.

“As a parent of a daughter, I think it’s legitimate that parents are worried about the safety of their daughters, and I think it’s legitimate for us to be worried also about fair competition,” Gallego (D-Ariz.) told The Dispatch in an interview published Thursday.

“And I think the parents of these trans children also are worried, legitimately, about the health and wellness of their kids.”

Gallego, 45, went on to argue that the issue of transgender competition in “some” school sports should be left to “local institutions,” without elaborating.

In other cases, the senator added, the message to trans would-be competitors should be: “Hey, listen, we love you. We want you to be part of our community, but this is just the one place you can’t play, and let’s find other activities for you to be involved.”

The Arizonan is not the only Democrat to distance themselves from most progressives on the issue of protecting women’s sports.

“I have two girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said days after the election, drawing backlash from left-wingers.

Earlier this year, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, another rumored 2028 aspirant, admitted that allowing transgender competitors in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.”

“I think it’s an issue of fairness; I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” the governor said on his podcast during a March interview with conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.

Earlier this week, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs high school athletics in the Golden State, tweaked eligibility rules for a track and field championship to allow “any biological female student-athlete” into the event who failed to qualify because they were defeated by transgender athletes.

Trump had threatened to cut federal funding for California over the issue and the Justice Department opened a Title IX investigation into the matter Wednesday.