Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Democrats should approach transgender rights, including eligibility requirements for trans athletes, “with compassion” during an interview aired early Monday with NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Buttigieg, who confirmed in May that he is weighing a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination after passing on a Senate run in Michigan, was asked about his messaging on transgender rights in response to remarks from former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel that diminished trans identities.

Emanuel, a Democrat and former Chicago mayor, has also said he is considering a 2028 presidential bid.

“Your approach starts with compassion — compassion for transgender people, compassion for families, especially young people who are going through this, and also empathy for people who are not sure what all of this means for them,” Buttigieg, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2020 Democratic nomination, told host Steve Inskeep on Monday.

“And I think when you do that, that does call into question some of the past orthodoxies in my party, for example, around sports, where I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women’s sports,” Buttigieg said.

“Meaning the parent who has complained about this has a case,” Inskeep interjected.

“Sure,” Buttigieg said.........

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