‘We’re Banning Discussions’: Moulton on Democrats’ Missteps
(Bloomberg) -- As Democrats try to figure out why the country lurched so dramatically toward Republican candidates in this year’s election, one congressman’s analysis of what went wrong has garnered particular attention — and backlash. Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, says his party faltered because it’s not willing to have debates on issues that Americans care about, including whether transgender girls should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports.
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“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Moulton told the New York Times earlier this month. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
The comments have set off a firestorm of criticism. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat and one of the country’s first openly lesbian governors, has said Moulton is “playing politics with people” by focusing on transgender youth. LGBTQ leaders across the state demanded an apology, while Kyle Davis, a city councilor in Moulton’s hometown of Salem, called on him to resign.
While Republicans are set to control the House of Representatives, the Democrats also marked a historic moment for Congress. Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, became the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, winning the state’s only House seat. Already, Republicans in Congress are trying to bar her from using women’s restrooms and changing rooms on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, roughly half of US states have banned transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
Data collected from states or sports organizations with inclusive policies suggest transgender athletes haven’t had an impact on sports participation or women’s athletic achievements, according to research from the Center for American Progress. But a study by the American College of Sports Medicine has signaled that “biological sex is a primary determinant of athletic performance” and that “males typically outperform females by 10%-30% depending on the requirements of the event,” with the performance differences emerging with the onset of puberty.
The American public’s views align with Moulton’s. A Gallup survey last year showed that 69% believed transgender athletes should only play on sports teams that match their gender at birth, rather than their current gender identity. That was an increase from 2021, when 62% of people held that view.
Moulton, who ran for president in the 2020 election and serves on the House Armed Services, Transportation and China committees, isn’t backing down. He spoke with Bloomberg News about the reaction to his comments and what Democrats need to do to rebuild a winning coalition of voters. The transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Why do you think Democrats lost? What should be the takeaway?
The biggest problem with the party is that we just have this arrogant culture where if you don’t meet every ideological litmus test established by our party’s left wing, then you’re not only wrong, you are a bad person. And that’s the perception that a lot of Americans have of the Democratic Party. And so the morning after the election, I was talking to my team. I said, ‘This felt like a cultural election.’ In other words, this was not just where we were wrong on the issues, although in certain cases that’s the case. It felt like a lot of people just felt we were out of touch. There are some issues, like this trans issue, where the vast majority of Americans don’t agree with our purity test.
Some of your Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives — including Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres of New York City — have also criticized the party’s focus on identity politics. Why single out transgender issues in particular?
The media likes a sensational story. They could have discussed how I talked about why we’re out of touch on economics or immigration or a number of issues. It was the media’s choice to elevate that one quote. But those who try to attack me for somehow scapegoating trans people are obviously not looking at the election results. The Republicans had a winning play on that issue. If we are too afraid to even have a response, then we’re going to keep losing. I’m not really losing sleep over which quote they chose.
What do you think about the backlash to your comments?
We’ve worked so long to become tolerant as a party by addressing every interest group that we’ve become intolerant. And so you can’t even have a debate about certain issues without sparking a backlash. And the backlash proved my point.
What has been the response behind the scenes from members of your party?
I’m no stranger to controversy. I don’t mind sticking my neck out and saying the difficult thing, but I’ve never received a more positive response across the board from Democrats. Of course, there are some who disagree, but I received support calls and emails and texts from Democrats across the ideological spectrum, including a lot of LGBTQ Democrats. Of course, this is reflected in the polling: We know that the vast majority of Americans think that we should have reasonable restrictions for competitive women’s sports.
But the broader point — that we can’t even take on difficult issues because of the cancel culture in our party — is what I think most Democrats are responding to. And whether it’s this issue or any other number of issues, if we can’t even have a good debate than that’s a real problem for our party going forward. The Republicans are banning books and we’re banning discussions.
Critics of your comments have said your reference to transgender athletes as “formerly male” was offensive. Do you wish you had used different language to make your point?
I’m never going to apologize for starting a debate in the United States of America. I think Democrats would do well to remember that old principle of freedom of speech. Every one of us can find ways to be more sensitive in our language, I guess. But we live in a country that should value debate.
(Updates with American College of Sports Medicine study in sixth paragraph)
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