California Governor Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would protect transgender care professionals from being extradited from the state. The decision was widely criticized by California liberals, who were disappointed with the governor.
According to the Bay Area Reporter, Assembly Bill 2164, sponsored by Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, was recently vetoed. If approved, the law would have prohibited the California governor from recognizing extradition requests for people accused of breaking the law in other states for providing gender-affirming care or reproductive services.
The governor argued that while agreeing with the overall view of the law, the discretionary responsibility of extradition remains with the governor, and he did not want to set a precedent that could undermine the power of the executive authority.
California Liberals Are Angry With Gavin Newsom
Newsom’s decision was not well received by liberal-leaning Californians on r/California. One of them said: “Speedrunning the path to a completely disliked centrist I see.” Another one added: “Following in the footsteps of such successes as Hillary and Kamala. Maybe being a white man with a D is all he needs. Or, maybe he’s how we get President Vance, or a Trump third term.”
Someone else also criticized the governor: “If he doesn’t want to be the democrat candidate in 2028, he can just not run. He doesn’t have to make himself unpopular to get out of running.” This led some people to say: “I am definitely not voting for him when the primary comes around.”
Not everyone agreed with the idea that Newsom was wrong, though. For example, one Californian wrote: “What he’s saying kind of makes sense, and it honestly seems kind of obvious that most of the time a governor is going to veto a bill whose only result is a limitation of the governor’s power. It seems like kind of a dumb thing to send to his desk, almost like an intended poison pill, or something like that.”
Others slammed the people on the thread, saying, “This thread is filled with neo-reactionaries that ignore that he’s signed more trans protection bills than any other governor. They don’t think or read.”
As topics such as gender-affirming care for trans people continue to be contentious in the United States, it’s likely that decisions such as this one will continue to divide voters.
