LGBTQ advocates say Moulton has not apologized after comments about trans athletes

Local news

Rep. Seth Moulton faced backlash after saying Democrats are afraid to address issues such as transgender athletes competing in school sports.

LGBTQ+ advocates and the mother of a transgender child publicly say they spoke with Rep. Seth Moulton about it just days after the election his comments about transgender athletes, and were disappointed with the congressman’s response to their concerns.

Moulton, a Democrat who represents much of the North Shore, has faced continued backlash since making comments about it The New York Times immediately after the election about how Democrats are too concerned with “trying not to offend anyone.”

“I have two little girls, I don’t want them to be run over on a playing field by a male or former male athlete, but as a Democrat I should be afraid to say that,” he told the newspaper. Times.

On November 8, Moulton met virtually with local leaders who wanted to express their opposition to his comments. During that conversation, reported by The Boston Sphere this week, advocates, leaders and parents were hoping for an apology. While Moulton admitted he didn’t use the perfect words to make his point, he did not issue an outright apology, they said.

“During our meeting, I shared the collective fear and anxiety gripping our community. Rep. However, Moulton made it clear that he did not regret his statements and offered no apology,” said Nina Selvaggio, executive director of Greater Boston PFLAGsaid in a statement to Boston.com.

Selvaggio was joined on the call by Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality, and the mother of a transgender child living in Moulton’s congressional district, and spoke to the Sphere on condition of anonymity.

Moulton, member of the Congress meeting for equalityhas participated in the North Shore Pride Parade and has been endorsed by LGBTQ+ advocates in the past.

“(Moulton) has an unquestionable voting record on LGBTQ+ issues, and he will continue to stand up for the rights of all Americans,” a spokesperson for the congressman said in a statement. “He has spoken and listened to a wide variety of people on this topic in recent weeks. We don’t expect everyone to agree with him, but many of those conversations support what he’s trying to do: push Democrats to make room for the voters we’ve lost.”

Selvaggio said she sees parents and caregivers of LGBTQ+ people “panicked and scared” about the potential impact of the new Trump administration. The president-elect stoked anti-transgender sentiment as a core part of his campaign, spending $215 million on “anti-trans ads,” she said.

The call participants sought to make clear that transgender issues, and specifically the topic of transgender athletes in college sports, are not the huge cultural issues some make them out to be, according to the Sphere. They pointed out to Moulton that transgender people make up only about 1% of the U.S. population, and only a fraction of those people are young transgender people playing youth sports.

Moulton has stood by his commentssaying that Democrats too often fail to “preach to those we disagree with” instead of “having real, honest conversations about difficult issues.”

“Unfortunately, the response has only served to reinforce my original point,” he said in a follow-up social media post.

The mother watched Moulton’s media appearances after the call to see if his tone would change, but was left disappointed.

“He didn’t ask any questions about the subject. He didn’t ask any questions about how my children were doing,” she told the newspaper Sphere. “I felt no empathy.”

How this saga could affect Moulton’s political future remains unclear. The Salem Democratic City Committee recently voted in favor of a letter condemning his comments and said it was actively working on them find a challenger to run against him in the 2026 Democratic primaries.

Selvaggio responded to the call by “sharing data and research to provide more context,” she said. That email went unanswered by Moulton’s office, she said.

“I hoped that Representative Moulton would be open to learning and choose to lead from a place of love and care for this incredibly vulnerable population,” Selvaggio said. “I remain hopeful that he will rise to that challenge.”