Democrats Rethink Transgender Sports Stance Ahead of Midterms

A growing number of Democratic officials are distancing themselves from their party's firm support for transgender athletes, as Republicans make the issue a central line of attack in the 2026 midterm campaigns.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a leading Democratic prospect for the White House, said he largely agrees with President Donald Trump on the question of transgender girls and women in school sports. Newsom called it "deeply unfair" for people assigned male at birth to compete against girls, telling a reporter while campaigning in South Carolina that he did not want to be on that side of the debate but was being honest about his view. "I haven't been able to figure out how to make it fair from my perspective," he said.

He is not alone. While most Democratic officials remain steadfast supporters of transgender rights, others in both red and blue states are stepping back from the party's unflinching backing of policy priorities such as allowing athletes to compete on teams matching their gender identity. The shift follows years of conservative attacks that have turned the issue into one of the Republican Party's most potent political weapons.

The debate is part of a broader identity crisis facing Democrats ahead of the midterms and the next presidential election. Some in the party believe it must evolve on an issue where, polling suggests, most voters — including many Democrats — side with Trump.

At their midterm convention in Dallas last week, Trump and his Republican allies made the issue a central theme. The president said he hoped Democrats would keep defending transgender girls and women who want to compete in girls' and women's sports. "I'm petrified that they'll change," he said. "That will really hurt us."

Republicans are already reviving attacks used against Kamala Harris in the last presidential campaign, when they said she was "for they/them, not you." On Friday they released a new advertisement targeting James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, using the same phrase. A political group backed by billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk began running digital ads this week aimed at Democrats in key Senate races in Texas, Ohio and Alaska, accusing them of allowing men to compete in women's sports.

Talarico began distancing himself from some past positions months ago. In a Fox News interview last week, he said he would vote for a national ban on gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors, which are rare. "I've missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it," he said, adding that Republicans wanted to talk about the issue rather than the price of diesel.

In Iowa, State Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for governor, has spoken against transgender athletes competing in women's sports on fairness grounds. Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton has taken a similar position, drawing criticism from the left for adopting Trump's language after saying she opposed "boys playing in girls' sports."

In deep-blue Massachusetts, transgender rights became a defining issue in the recent Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Senator Ed Markey, 80, won the nomination and later credited his victory to not shying away from advocating for transgender rights, using the issue against Representative Seth Moulton, who had said he would not want his daughters to play against transgender athletes. Moulton apologised, but lost. His position, however, aligns with the majority of voters nationally.

A June poll from Quinnipiac University found that about seven in ten registered voters believe transgender women and girls should not be allowed to play on women's and girls' sports teams, while about one-quarter think they should. Democrats are divided, with roughly half on each side. A Pew Research Center poll last year found that 55% of Democrats would be "not too" or "not at all" comfortable with athletes playing on teams that do not match their sex at birth.

Markey's public commitment stood out because Democratic politicians are increasingly avoiding the issue, said Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, which works to elect supporters of transgender rights to federal office. "The reality of being a transgender person in America in 2026 is that on election nights, while other folks are talking about who had a good night and who had a bad night, sometimes you are quietly wondering, 'Am I going to be OK?'" Hack said.

Even transgender activists are divided over whether to support Democrats with unfriendly positions. Advocate and journalist Erin Reed this month published a guide flagging Democratic candidates she accused of taking anti-transgender positions, highlighting 15 states with such Democrats. She said she would not vote for the "worst offenders" even if it meant a Republican wins, warning that Democrats should not see "throwing transgender people under the bus" as a winning strategy. "One seat can be won back," she wrote. "A party cannot."

Hack said he would probably vote for a Democrat even if the candidate supports some policies his group opposes, in hopes the party can take control of Congress, but such candidates should not expect its endorsement. "While I hope many of them win, I think they can do it without our resources and without our support," he said.

The political debate is evolving as transgender people increasingly become targets of conservative backlash through state laws and the Trump administration. Sports participation has become one of the main fronts in the battle, though most Republican-controlled states have also implemented policies affecting a larger share of the population, including bans on some gender-affirming health care for transgender young people and rules on bathroom use in schools and some public places.

At least 25 states now enforce laws or policies barring transgender women and girls from competing in at least some women's and girls' sports, with three others adopting laws whose enforcement is blocked by courts. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws barring transgender girls from school teams. Transgender athletes make up a small fraction of rosters; NCAA president Charlie Baker testified in 2024 that he knew of fewer than 10 transgender college student-athletes out of more than 500,000.

The internal party debate ahead of the 2026 midterms offers a preview for Democrats weighing future presidential bids.