The Issue Is: Newsom calls for humanity as he stands up for LGBTQ pride

LOS ANGELES - "Where's our humanity? Where's our decency, where's our sense of commonality?"

Governor Gavin Newsom is speaking out in support of the LGBTQ community in an exclusive interview with FOX 11’s Elex Michaelson for the statewide political show "The Issue Is."

This week, Newsom traveled to Southern California for a pair of Pride-related events.

First, the Governor met with parents, school leaders, teachers, and staff at the Glendale Unified School District. This, days after a massive brawl broke out outside a Glendale School District meeting over the Board’s recognition of Pride month and the proposed inclusion of LGBTQ studies in the classroom.

"It’s not just about LGBTQ issues," Newsom said. "It’s about trust. It’s about public trust, public education, about the weaponization of grievance."

"Unfortunately, it’s come here to Glendale, and it’s not unique. We’re seeing this all across the country, organized interests, disorganized interests, and legitimate parental concerns of what are we teaching our kids? Are you telling me the truth? And so we’ve got a lot of work to do to address these fundamental divides."

The Governor’s other stop? Disneyland, where he celebrated at their first-ever Disney After Dark Pride Nite Event after meeting with Disney CEO Bob Iger to receive a briefing on Disney’s plan to invest in the region.

Newsom reflected on his political career as Michaelson asked him about his message to those Pride Night attendees:

"We all want to be loved. We all need to be loved. And you know what? My heart is broken. I grew up in San Francisco," Newsom said.

"My first taste of politics was early memories around the Briggs Initiative in the seventies. And there was a guy named Harvey Milk, Tom Ammiano, who eventually I ran against for mayor, these young leaders that had the courage to stand up and fight for LGBTQ community before anyone else. I mean, Harvey Milk's life was taken in that cause, and I thought we were past it when Ronald Reagan said, You know what? You can't catch gay like you can measles - even Reagan said that and said, stop the demonization of teachers and what's going on in the schools. And we defeated the Briggs Initiative only to see Ron DeSantis weaponize it again... I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime."

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Amid other Pride topics, Newsom also waded into the heated debate over transgender athletes in schools.

Newsom said the amount of attention paid to transgender athletes in schools would imply it’s a far larger issue than it actually is - saying with more than 520,000 NCAA athletes, only a few dozen are trans.

"Put it in perspective," Newsom cautioned. "I get why people are fearful. I get why people, and I understand, intimately, understand it, I've got four young kids that are deeply involved in sports. I understand that. Again, you approach it with some humility and sensitivity, with some humanity. These kids are more likely than anything else to commit suicide. There, for the grace of God go any of us as caregivers or parents, I don't like the weaponization, the assaults on the community, and so it's finding some common ground."

"I don't have the answer to the question, no one does, NCAA is trying to work through this," Newsom continued, "but we have to come at it with some humility and humanity. And I repeat that because it's not there, it's not present in our current public discussion."

In a wide-ranging interview on "The Issue Is," Newsom also commented on his recent interview with Sean Hannity, his escalating war of words with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and possible criminal charges Newsom is pursuing against his Republican rival over recent migrant flights, California’s homelessness crisis, the indictment of Former President Donald Trump, and much more.

Watch Governor Newsom’s full interview on "The Issue Is:" which airs on FOX 11 Los Angeles every Friday night at 10:30 PM.