Pete Buttigieg Responds to Critics Over Trans Sports Comments

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg directly addressed criticism of his recent remarks about transgender athletes during a Substack Live broadcast Tuesday with content creator Aaron Parnas, emphasizing that compassion should guide public debate rather than political theater.

“I see this issue being used to divide. I see it being used to hurt people,” Buttigieg told Parnas during the interview. “It’s especially hurtful for trans people and people with transgender members of their family who witness themselves or people they love being used as a political football.”

The clarification follows criticism from some Democrats, Buttigieg supporters and LGBTQ+ advocates over his July 28 NPR “Morning Edition” interview, where he acknowledged parental concerns about “fairness” in girls’ sports while maintaining his opposition to federal bans on transgender athletes.

During the July 28 NPR interview, the Michigander had said parents worried about their children competing against transgender athletes “have a case,” though he emphasized that decisions should be made by local communities rather than politicians in Washington.

Critics argued his framing inadvertently played into right-wing narratives targeting one of the country’s most vulnerable communities. Parnas, whose legal analysis content reaches over four million TikTok followers and runs the top news-related Substack newsletter, provided Buttigieg a platform to address those concerns directly.

“We’re talking about one of the smallest, as well as one of the most vulnerable minorities, in this country and in the world,” Buttigieg said during Tuesday’s broadcast. “In order to bring people together on this, we also have to take everybody seriously, including parents who have questions.”

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor maintained his position that sports participation decisions should remain with local communities and sports leagues rather than federal lawmakers. “Above all… those questions should be handled by communities and by sports leagues and not by politicians,” he reiterated.

Buttigieg’s comments come as the Trump administration enforces executive orders banning transgender women and girls from women’s sports teams nationwide. The scope of these restrictions affects an extremely small population: NCAA President Charlie Baker testified that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete among more than 500,000 college athletes.

The scientific landscape around competitive advantage remains nuanced. University of Washington endocrinologist Dr. Bradley Anawalt explained in a March PBS NewsHour segment that performance gaps between cisgender and transgender women narrow significantly after hormone therapy, though some differences may persist. Military fitness data showed transgender women’s running times aligned with cisgender women’s after two years, while push-up performance remained elevated throughout a four-year study.

Anawalt suggested science alone may not resolve the debate. “There are going to be inherent inequalities between people. And how do we limit those inequalities and yet allow everybody to play? I really don’t think that science is going to give us a perfect answer on this.”

Instead, he pointed to the cultural significance driving intense focus on the issue. “This whole debate rages around sports because of how much we venerate sports and, at this point in time, what an economic engine it’s become.”

Buttigieg echoed that perspective during his clarification Tuesday, noting the complexity requires nuanced approaches. “Chess is different from weightlifting,” he said. “And middle school is different from the Olympics.”

In Michigan, the debate has reached the state level, where GOP lawmakers have pressured the Michigan High School Athletic Association to comply with Trump’s executive order. The Michigan House passed a non-binding resolution in March urging the MHSAA to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports, despite only two transgender athletes currently competing among the state’s approximately 180,000 high school athletes.

LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations have documented how these bans create broader harm beyond their direct targets. GLAAD reports that restrictions have led to cisgender girls being falsely accused of being transgender and subjected to harassment or invasive screening procedures.