Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg offered one of the Democratic Partys most carefully worded responses yet to the intensifying debate over transgender youth participation in sports on Monday morning in an NPR interview, one that acknowledged fairness concerns while warning against federal overreach.The approach starts with compassion, Buttigieg, who is gay, told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. Compassion for transgender people, compassion for families, especially of young people who are going through this, and also empathy for people who are not sure what all of this means for them.Related: Supreme Court to decide whether states can ban transgender women & girls from sportsAsked whether a parent concerned about their child facing a trans kid in girls sports has a case, Buttigieg said, Sure. But he rejected blanket policies like the federal bans being enacted by the Trump administration, saying, These decisions should be in the hands of sports leagues and school boards and not politicians, least of all politicians in Washington trying to use this as a political pawn.Buttigiegs remarks came days after Rahm Emanuel, former President Joe Bidens ambassador to Japan, former mayor of Chicago, and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, told Megyn Kelly that a man cant become a woman, a comment that directly contradicted party orthodoxy and sparked fresh divisions over how Democrats should approach transgender rights.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 womens sports, Buttigieg told NPR.The political stakes are high. A June 2025 Gallup poll found that 69 percent of U.S. adults believe trans athletes should only be allowed to play on teams matching their gender assigned at birth, including 91 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of independents, and 45 percent of Democrats. Support for transgender athletes inclusion has declined steadily since Gallup first asked the question in 2021.Related: Pete Buttigieg, Charlamagne tha God say Democrats should hammer home Trumps Epstein cover-upSince returning to the Oval Office in January, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders eliminating federal recognition of gender identity, banning trans military service, restricting access to gender-affirming care, and prohibiting transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams.The United States Supreme Court will weigh in on the legalities of banning transgender people from sports by next summer. The court has agreed to hear two cases involving transgender athletes next term, which begins in October.LGBTQ+ rights groups have warned that such bans are not only discriminatory but also dangerous. A July 2025 fact sheet from GLAAD noted that fewer than 10 transgender student-athletes are competing among the NCAAs 510,000 athletes. It also pointed to documented cases of cisgender girls being falsely accused of being trans, harassed, or subjected to invasive screening, consequences not limited to trans youth.Related: Gov. Gavin Newsom faces backlash over comments he made about transgender student athletesIn March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fellow Democrat, received harsh backlash for telling far-right operative Charlie Kirk that trans kids participation in sports is deeply unfair."Pressed on Trumps repeated slogan, No boys in girls sports, Buttigieg declined to echo the rhetoric. I think that chess is different from weightlifting, and weightlifting is different from volleyball, and middle school is different from the Olympics, he said. So thats exactly why I think that we shouldnt be grandstanding on this as politicians. We should be empowering communities, organizations, and schools to make the right decisions.