Palm Springs – Veteran California legislative leader Toni Atkins didn’t write words in a ballroom funded by more than 1,000 people for LGBTQ+ youth.
In a fiery speech at the annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, Atkins, who is running for governor of California, said President Trump and other Republicans are working to “get our brothers out of public life.”
“These are not just political stunts. They are acts that risk lives and remove basic human dignity,” Atkins said. “As I say, listen to me: trans people belong. Trans young people deserve love, joy and our protection.”
Atkins’ speech, which sparked applause, proposed a glimpse into Trump’s efforts to undermine California’s liberal values, including support for transgender Americans, at the heart of the state’s 2026 campaign for state governors.
In the first 100 days, Trump issued an executive order banning trans women from women’s sports and prohibiting the federal government from recognizing genders of men or non-female.
Trump also calls for the ban on transgender Americans from the US military, writing that transgender identity is “false” that contradicts “the humility and selflessness needed by service members.” The Supreme Court cleared the road last week for the ban to come into effect.
“The attempts of atrocities and humiliation seem to be the point of what they’re doing,” said Lisa Middleton, a transgender woman and former mayor of Palm Springs.
The LGBTQ+ community has become a political force in shaping policy and campaigns across the state.
Other top Democrats running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom have also expressed strong support for LGBTQ+ rights, including former Orange County Assemblyman Katie Porter, former U.S. Health and Welfare Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Antonio Antonio Villaraigosa, former Controller betty Yee and Supt Katie Porter, and former Orange County Assemblyman Katie Porter. Public leader Tony Thurmond.
About 2.8 million lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people live in California more than any other state, and Californians are overwhelmingly supportive of laws protecting the LGBTQ+ community, according to the California Institute of Public Policy.
Last year, voters in California passed a vote to embarrass the national constitution on the right to same-sex marriage. The proposed voting initiative restricting the healthcare of transgender youth and requiring schools to inform parents about their child’s gender identity failed to obtain sufficient signatures to qualify for the November voting.
A vote by the Los Angeles Times last year showed that more than three in four Americans were looking at issues related to transgender and non-binary people.
“It’s traps that conservatives are using to distract themselves from the real issues at hand,” said Evan Low, a former California council member and new president of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.
Former Senate President Protempore, former Senate Speaker, and former Speaker of Congress and the only gay candidate of the governor’s race, Atkins said in an interview that she “are aware of what’s important to me, as a woman and as a member of the gay community.” She said she supported the bill passed by the California Legislature 10 years ago.
“This administration uses it as a weapon and politicizes it,” Atkins said. “It’s just cruel.”
In early May, the Associated Press poll found Trump’s handling of transgender issues was more popular with Americans than his overall job performance. And a vote in January by the New York Times found that nearly 80% of Americans, including more than two-thirds of Democrats, opposed the idea of trans women competing in women’s sports.
“Now, Democrats trying to find their voices in so many things don’t know how to handle them,” said Hank Plante, a political journalist and former fellow at the USC Center for the Political Future who lives in Palm Springs. “They want to remain faithful to their foundations and the principles of equal rights, but at the same time, they are politically losers when you start talking about misfit gender issues and youth.”
Last fall, one of the Trump campaign’s most bruise-attack ads was a clip of former Vice President Kamala Harris who said he supported gender transition surgery for prisoners in California prisons, saying, “Kamala is for them/they. President Trump is for you.”
“She didn’t even respond to it, but it was even more devastating,” Newsom said in a recent episode of his podcast. “Cruel. That was a great ad.”
In the same episode, Newsom told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk that it was “deeply unfair” for trans girls to play on a women’s sports team. Newsom previously supported California law signed by former governor Jerry Brown, which allowed trans students to compete in sports and use bathrooms based on gender preferences.
The rumour that followed Newsom’s comments underscored the complexities Democrats faced on the issue, with some Democrats claiming that they strategically abandoned a group of vulnerable people to prepare for a future presidential election.
A lawmaker for D-San Diego, chairman of California’s Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said the governor’s remarks made him “deeply sick and annoyed.”
However, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is one of the most well-known Republicans running for governor, and he said he agreed to Newsom.
Ronde Hart, Palm Springs’ first gay Mexican-American mayor, warned in a speech at Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast that the LGBTQ+ community and its allies “mart with greater enthusiasm — they’ll do it more than ever.”
“If you’re a member of the army, are you transgender or not – if you’re willing to fight for me, I’m willing to fight for you,” Dejarte told the crowd.
In an interview, Deharte said elected officials are currently facing ethical tests on whether they oppose Trump administration policies that they see as hurting the community because they risk losing federal funds.
He said all eyes are in Maine. There, the Trump administration halted funding for all federal education after Democrat Janet Mills refused to follow Trump’s instructions to ban Trans girls from girls’ sports.
“Walking is a rewarding line,” Dejarte said. “We need to make sure that we have not only a right moral status, but also a right legal status.”
Since Trump took office, federal officials have targeted California more than laws aimed at protecting trans students.
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the Inter-Calif. Governance Federation, which oversees sports in more than 1,500 high schools, and the California Department of Education on a law that prohibits schools from automatically notifying them about issues related to student gender identity.
Currently, gay and trans high school students are experiencing fear “a little more closet.”
She and her wife were school physical education teachers and drove dozens of students to breakfast at Harvey Milk Diversity in two vans from the school’s gay straight alliance.
“Students are really scary,” she said. “I’m scared to be myself.”
While there is little that state-level officials can do to reverse decisions from the White House on issues such as military eligibility and passports, the state could be a shelter for gay and trans students, attendees say, including reinforcing fundraising and legal protections for gender-incompatible students and gay couples.
“The nation must prepare for what comes,” Plante said. He pointed to Clarence Thomas’ agreed when the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.
Christopher Martinez, 32, attended a Harvey Milk Diversity breakfast with fellow students from Desert University. They hope that the next governor will focus on daily issues affecting transgender and gay college students, such as rising cost of living and housing anxiety.
“Everything’s really become expensive,” Martinez said.
