In a wide-ranging interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, California Democratic hopeful Betty Yee called for reconsidering men’s and women’s divisions at the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and affirmed that transgender female athletes should be permitted to compete.
In a high-profile appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” Betty Yee, former California State Controller and currently vying for the Democratic nomination for governor, laid out her views on transgender athletes competing in sports—and floated the idea of a gender-neutral Olympic competition.
In the interview, Yee said, “I think transgender female athletes are women athletes and they should be able to compete.”
When host Piers Morgan asked whether she would support a “gender-neutral Olympics” in Los Angeles in 2028, Yee responded, “Well… I don’t think we’re going to get that tomorrow, but I think it’s a conversation worth having. … If the physicality of the sexes bears true to that, including with transgender people, yes, it should be gender-neutral.”
Yee added that there is still much to learn about athletic performance across gender identity, “I think there’s a lot of misinformation about the ability of transgender athletes to compete.”
Yee’s remarks mark a departure from the position of incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom, who earlier described transgender women participating in women’s sports as “deeply unfair,” in an interview with the late Charlie Kirk.
The issue has become a flashpoint in California politics, especially as the state prepares to host the Olympics. Chargers in the state Republican Party jumped on her comments, labeling them out of touch with biological realities.
Would-be critics argue that combining male and female competition would undermine fairness. During the conversation, Morgan pressed Yee on whether she believed, for example, women could compete fairly against men in sprint events.
Yee replied, “Perhaps… we don’t know fully.”
For example, the men’s 100-meter world record stands at 9.58 seconds (held by Usain Bolt), whereas the women’s stands at 10.49 seconds.
Yee clarified that she is not a sports scientist, but stressed her guiding principle: every athlete should have equal opportunity to compete.
Her stance places her on the progressive end of the debate about eligibility rules for transgender athletes, and sets up a test of her appeal among moderate and conservative voters ahead of the statewide race.
