Moulton doubles down on transgender athletes comments: 'Backlash … proves my point' 

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) doubled down on his recent comments about transgender athletes, saying the response to them vindicates his point.

“I was simply speaking in good faith as a father on one of the many issues that I believe are out of touch with the majority of voters, and I stand by my position,” Moulton said at a news conference. ” he said. Appeared on MSNBC on sunday. “The backlash I've received proves my point that we can't even have these discussions as a party.”

“And we have to be able to have these discussions,” he added. “But instead, we have a wing of our party that shames us, tries to exclude people who try to bring up difficult topics like this, and frankly shames our voters.”

Moulton recently New York Times article Regarding accusations by Democrats after Vice President Harris' defeat in the 2024 election, he said the party was leaning too heavily on identity politics, paving the way for President-elect Trump and the Republican Party to win decisively.

“Democrats are spending too much time trying not to offend anyone, rather than being brutally honest about the challenges facing many Americans,” he told the paper. “There is,” he said. “I have two little girls and I don't want them to get run over by a man, or a former male athlete, on the field, but as a Democrat I should be scared to say that.”

He has faced backlash from his party, including Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan, who told the Boston Globe that Moulton's comments “do not represent the broad range of views of our party.” .

Ms. Moulton was first elected to Congress in 2015 and is a member of the Congressional Equality Caucus. The caucus promotes LGBTQ equality in the House and strongly opposes efforts to bar trans athletes from sports teams that best align with their gender identity. His 2024 re-election campaign was supported by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group.

Moulton twice previously co-sponsored House Democrats' Transgender Bill of Rights, which included protections for transgender athletes from participating in sports teams that match their gender identity. Even last spring, Moulton voted against passing a Republican-backed bill that would have barred transgender student-athletes from sports.

“I strongly believe in the need for competitive women's sports to limit the participation of those who have an unfair physical advantage due to being born male,” Moulton said in a statement to the community. NBC10 Boston late last week. “I also strongly support civil rights for all Americans, including transgender rights. I will continue to fight for the rights and safety of all of our citizens, as I have always done. These two ideas are mutually exclusive. It is not exclusive and opinions may differ.

“But there are a lot of people screaming from the far left on social media who believe I have failed the implicit Democratic purity test,” he added. “We didn't lose the 2024 election because of transgender people or issues. We lost because we were ashamed and disrespected of too many opinions held by too many voters. That's one of the reasons, and it must stop. Debate now to determine a new strategy for a party whose existing strategy has failed, and unite against Trump's policies that undermine American values. Let’s do it.”