EXCLUSIVE – Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, R., is baffled why Democrats continue to push far-left cultural ideology such as allowing gender reassignment surgery for kids and insisting biological men should be able to compete against female athletes, but he’s determined to "protect" Mississippians if the federal government won’t do it.
"I've been known to say that the Democratic National Committee has moved so far to the left that I heard they were going to move their national headquarters to somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean," Reeves told Fox News Digital.
"That's how far left they've moved on so many issues. And this gender reassignment surgeries, is the latest push from the far left to change the makeup of America," Reeves continued. "It makes absolutely no sense to the average American and certainly doesn't make any sense to the average Mississippian."
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Reeves, who is running for re-election, signed a law in 2021 that prohibits transgender athletes who identify as female from competing in girls' and women's sports. In March, he signed a law that prohibits medical professionals from conducting sex reassignment surgery, also called gender-affirming or confirming care, and from prescribing puberty blockers or hormone replacements to anyone in the state under 18 years of age. Reeves wasn’t finished, and recently signed bills designed to limited children’s access to sexually explicit material.
"Why on Earth is this so important to the far left that they want to literally mutilate our children? Why is it so important that they have the opportunity, and are pushing, for our children being able to see pornographic material? Why? What makes them think the way they think? It makes no sense to me at all as to why they're pushing these things," Reeves said. "We're going to defend our kids and protect them against this left-wing woke ideology that is beyond the pale of what most average Americans can even imagine."
Reeves is aware that Mississippi, which hasn’t had a Democrat governor since 2004, is seen as a deep-red state by much of the country. Many coastal elites from Democrat-run cities assume the Magnolia State doesn’t need to concern itself with transgender issues that are rampant in blue states, but Reeves feels he needs to be proactive in order to protect Mississippians.
"There's no doubt that there's probably less of this going on in the state of Mississippi than there is in some other states. But the fact of the matter is that there are clinics in Mississippi that prior to me signing legislation in the last several months that were looking at gender reassignment surgery on minors, they were looking at and offering pills and other things for kids," Reeves said.
"The D.C. elites and those in California, in New York, who always say, ‘Well, you really don't have to worry about this because you're in a red state,’ and that's never actually true because if it was allowed in large blue states, and then it moves to the purple states, and then it moves to states such as ours," Reeves continued. "And the most important thing that we can do is be proactive and do everything we can to protect our kids. And that's what I'm going to do as long as I'm governor of Mississippi."
Transgender activists and some medical professionals call these laws discriminatory and say politicians are outlawing medical best practice for gender dysphoric youth. Major medical groups including the American Medical Association have warned that restrictions on so-called gender-affirming care could harm the mental health of trans youth, who are at a higher risk of suicide.
While some liberal activists are focused on insisting minors should be able to receive gender-affirming care, others are adherent that biological men who identify as women should be able to compete against biological women. Reeves, who has three daughters, put a stop to that in Mississippi, but he doesn’t understand why anyone would advocate for such a thing – regardless of political affiliation.
"As a dad, it just is beyond my ability to comprehend why the norm in the other political party is to push men into girls sports," he said.
"In Mississippi, we have a law now, and we've decided that we're going to let girls play girls sports. And we're going to let boys play boys sports," he continued, noting that all three of his daughters play competitive sports.
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"They shouldn’t have to compete with biological makes," Reeves said. "It makes absolutely no sense. But what the far-left is pushing in the in this country oftentimes nowadays makes absolutely no sense."
Reeves was an athlete himself, and played college basketball at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.
"I played on some pretty good teams, and I was never the best player on our team by any stretch of the imagination," Reeves said. "But I think I would have been pretty successful had I been playing only against female athletes."
In April, the House passed legislation aimed at preventing biological males from competing as transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports at schools across the country. However, Democrat leaders are unlikely to take it up in Senate, and President Biden has said he would veto the bill if it made it to his desk.
"It makes no sense whatsoever that that is the agenda that these far-left groups are pushing. And by the way, it is in direct conflict with the original reasoning behind Title IV in America," Reeves said.
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The Biden administration has unveiled its proposal for new Title IX rules to expand the meaning of sexual discrimination to include gender identity as it relates to the application for transgender athletes participating in women's sports. Under the Department of Education's proposed rule, no school or college that receives federal funding would be allowed to impose a "one-size-fits-all" policy that categorically bans transgender students from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Such policies would be considered a violation of Title IX. Reeves strongly opposes the Biden administration’s views on the topic.
"It is in direct conflict to protect women in women's sports by forcing and people to allow biological males to compete against them. It takes away the spirit of competition. And I'm just flabbergasted that this is the direction that the far left has tried to take this country," Reeves said.
Reeves is hopeful that, eventually, the White House will be occupied by someone willing to protect women’s sports.
"I believe that the federal government should step in and protect women across America. But as long as the Biden administration is in charge, they're never going to do that," Reeves said. "Title IV is in effect in America to protect girls who are playing girls sport. It's in effect to protect women. And the Biden administration is going in exactly the wrong direction."
Reeves has worked hard to create jobs in Mississippi, and it has paid off as the state has the lowest unemployment rate since it was founded in 1817. He believes that his policies related to cultural issues have actually helped the unemployment rate because Americans are eager to live and work in a state with conservative values.
"I'm always going to protect our culture in Mississippi, and I'm always going to protect our way of life. And in many respects, our culture and our way of life is what's leading to more people working than ever before, which leading to more capital investment in our state," he said.
"Employers look at what's happened here over the last three years, and they like what they see, and they look at our people, and they say, ‘I'd like people like that working for me,’" Reeves continued. "And so, whereas years ago, I used to be on the phone calling CEOs and say consultants and begging them to look at Mississippi. Now they're calling me, and I'm dadgum proud of it."
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
