California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued his first vetoes since the state legislature’s 2025 session ended last month, rejecting 21 bills — including one that proposed pro-transgender updates to the state’s health education standards, which Republicans had urged him to block.
Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 86, a technical measure that would have updated language in the state’s K-8 health education standards to align with the curriculum framework adopted by the state Board of Education in 2019.
According to the Sacramento Bee, Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-Santee) sent Newsom a letter criticizing the bill for “introduc[ing] the theory that reproductive anatomy does not necessarily determine a person’s gender.”
“For third-grade students, the framework states, ‘When providing instruction on sexual and reproductive organs, teachers can introduce the concept that gender does not always match the sexual and reproductive organs described,'” Jones wrote, urging Newsom to veto the bill. “Teaching controversial gender theories to students as young as eight or nine years old is not a practice that most Californians support or want to see happening in our schools.”
Republicans, religious and social conservatives, and parental rights advocates routinely object to public school instruction that acknowledges the existence of LGBTQ people, often likening such lessons to sexual “grooming” or “indoctrination” that they claim undermines parents’ beliefs about what is age-appropriate.
In his veto message, Newsom said the bill should not be considered until after the state completes an ongoing review of its health curriculum standards.
Newsom, who has been widely viewed as harboring presidential ambitions, faced backlash from LGBTQ advocates in March after telling conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a podcast interview that it was “unfair” for transgender athletes to compete on female-designated sports teams.
Newsom’s comments drew criticism from across the political spectrum. Republicans and anti-transgender advocates hailed them as “proof” that liberal orthodoxy on transgender issues was cracking — even as they continued to mock Newsom — and later used his refusal to impose a statewide transgender athlete ban to attack him.
Just months later, in June, Newsom’s refusal to impose a blanket ban triggered a public showdown with President Trump, who demanded that a transgender athlete be barred from competing as a girl in California’s state track and field meet.
The Trump administration sued California over the California Interscholastic Federation’s transgender athlete eligibility policy, arguing that it violates Title IX by depriving cisgender girls of equal educational and athletic opportunities.
Newsom also faced criticism from pro-LGBTQ advocates and progressives, who noted that his comments contradicted his record of supporting LGBTQ rights as mayor of San Francisco.
According to LGBTQ Nation, Newsom has so far neither signed nor vetoed several pro-LGBTQ measures introduced by Democratic lawmakers. One proposal seeks to expand State Sen. Scott Wiener’s (D-San Francisco) 2022 “State of Refuge” law, which bars other states and private entities from subpoenaing private medical records. The measure applies to individuals seeking abortions as well as those pursuing gender-affirming care.
Other measures awaiting action from Newsom include a bill streamlining legal name and gender changes for transgender individuals while strengthening confidentiality protections for court records; a bill prohibiting health insurance discrimination based on gender identity and requiring insurers to offer a 12-month supply of prescription hormones; and a proposal banning anti-transgender discrimination in homelessness programs and shelters.
Newsom has also yet to act on several additional bills, including a measure requiring insurance coverage for all FDA-approved HIV prevention medications such as PrEP without prior authorization; a proposal mandating that schools and universities provide students with crisis hotline information — including LGBTQ-specific hotlines — in response to the Trump administration’s elimination of LGBTQ-focused services for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; a bill extending family leave benefits to LGBTQ-headed families; and a clarification affirming that state adoption law allows nonresidents, including same-sex couples, to adopt children born in California under its inclusive process.
If Newsom takes no action, the measures will automatically become law without his signature after 12 days, excluding Sundays.
On the same day the new Batman-inspired Red Hood comic book series hit stores, DC Comics announced it was cancelling all future issues, citing writer Gretchen Felker-Martin’s social media posts about the shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
On September 10, Felker-Martin, who is transgender, had posted on her now-deactivated BlueSky account: "Thoughts and prayers you Nazi bitch," and "Hope the bullet's okay after touching Charlie Kirk."
Felker-Martin’s hostility toward Kirk stemmed from his vocal opposition to transgender rights and gender-affirming care, his claims that transgender identity is a “social contagion,” “mental delusion,” and “lie,” and his calls for conservatives on college campuses to report professors promoting so-called “gender ideology,” according to The New York Times.
The Capital Pride Alliance and WorldPride DC organizers hosted a "wrap-up party" on September 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to unveil the WorldPride 2025 Impact Report, highlighting the celebration's economic and cultural reach.
The event, featuring food, drinks, and live performances, celebrated WorldPride’s success while giving LGBTQ community members a chance to reflect on the experience and the lessons learned from hosting a large-scale festival in D.C., helping build an infrastructure the city can use for future events.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning to classify specific transgender suspects as "violent extremists," according to journalist Ken Klippenstein. Writing on his Substack, Klippenstein said two national security officials told him that the FBI intends to treat transgender suspects as a subset of the Bureau’s newly created "Nihilistic Violent Extremists" (NVE) category.
The NVE designation was created earlier this year to replace the Biden-era label "Anti-Authority and Anti-Government Violent Extremists" (AGAAVE), which had been used to categorize participants in the January 6 Capitol riot and other right-wing or anti-government groups.
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