Democrat responds after sparking protests outside office with defense of women's sports

Protests erupted adjacent the bureau of Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., soon aft helium spoke retired against transgender athletes competing successful women's sports, a stance that veers distant from his party's mainstream views. 

"I'm not acrophobic of protests," Moulton told Lawrence Jones during "Fox & Friends" connected Tuesday. "People [are] protesting retired successful beforehand of my bureau each the clip due to the fact that they deliberation I'm excessively pro-Israel, for example. And truthful protests are OK. They're portion of state of speech… We conscionable request to beryllium consenting to speech astir these contentious issues. And I'm not anti-trans either. In fact, I person a beardown grounds of supporting trans people, including trans kids. And this isn't astir trans kids either. That's different disapproval I hear."

BILL MAHER LAMBASTS LIBERALS FOR DEFENDING TRANS INCLUSION IN WOMEN'S SPORTS, PRAISES SETH MOULTON

"My kids are young. They play connected co-ed shot teams conscionable similar I did erstwhile I was their age, too. But erstwhile they get older, erstwhile we're talking astir competitory sports… erstwhile radical are a batch bigger, it's tenable to person restrictions," helium continued. "That's wherefore the NCAA has restrictions. That's wherefore the Olympics person restrictions. And yet, for immoderate reason, due to the fact that of immoderate orthodox litmus trial successful our party, we're not adjacent expected to entertain the idea. And I'm conscionable saying, let's person a debate."

Massachusetts Democrats held the "Neighbors for Hate" rally adjacent Moulton's bureau implicit the play successful effect to his stance connected protecting women's sports arsenic immoderate critics called connected him to resign. 

Massachusetts Democrats rallied adjacent Rep. Seth Moulton's bureau implicit the play successful protestation of his stance connected transgender athletes competing successful women's sports. (Itemlive.com)

"I person 2 small girls. I don't privation them getting tally implicit connected a playing tract by a antheral oregon formerly antheral athlete, but arsenic a Democrat I'm expected to beryllium acrophobic to accidental that," Moulton told the New York Times earlier this month. 

After his comments to the Times, helium received a swarm of backlash from members wrong his ain party, including Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who became the archetypal openly transgender idiosyncratic to triumph a spot successful Congress, and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who has a transgender child. 

Despite backlash from critics wrong his enactment and beyond, helium has defended his position, calling connected those who disagree with him to person a treatment astir their differences. 

DEMOCRATS PLANNING TO REPLACE SETH MOULTON AFTER SPEAKING OUT AGAINST TRANS ATHLETES

"My occupation isn't to conscionable correspond the radical who voted for maine backmost successful Massachusetts. It's to correspond everyone," Moulton said Tuesday. "And I'm arrogant to basal up for civilian rights, but portion of… having a civilian statement successful America is having state of code and being consenting to talk your mind."

Meanwhile, Democrats person downplayed the interaction that the transgender jock debate could person had connected the result of the 2024 elections. 

"Another 1 of the lines that ran implicit and implicit again successful those ads and passim right-wing media is this thought that America is faced with a situation of boys playing successful girls sports," MSNBC big and erstwhile White House property caput Jen Psaki said connected Sunday. "Now, these ads created this cognition that the issues of trans kids playing sports was dominating schools crossed the country, which is wholly false."

Moulton, who won re-election earlier this month, argued immoderate members of his enactment walk excessively overmuch clip trying not to offend erstwhile they should beryllium engaging successful civilian sermon astir cardinal issues they disagree on. 

"You tin person a statement astir this issue, and that's truly my halfway point, is that we request to beryllium capable to statement contentious issues without conscionable being unopen down," helium said. "And this is simply a occupation that we person successful authorities today. We can't, arsenic Democrats, consciousness similar we tin statement immoderate of these contentious issues astatine the hazard of offending people. I perceive this from my Republican colleagues arsenic well. Some of them person existent occupation coming retired and conscionable saying that Biden won the 2020 predetermination oregon there's a bully lawsuit for being progressive successful Ukraine due to the fact that they're acrophobic of what they'll perceive from their ain enactment basal connected those contentious subjects."

"But we can't beforehand policies for the American people. We can't correspond the immense bulk of Americans and the concerns that they look if we're not consenting to really prosecute successful debate, and that's truly my halfway constituent here."

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