Protests erupted near the office of Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., shortly after he spoke out against transgender athletes participating in women’s sports, a stance that strays from his party’s mainstream views .

“I’m not afraid of protests,” Moulton told Lawrence Jones. during “Fox & Friends” Tuesday. “People protest outside my office all the time because they think I’m too pro-Israel, for example. And so the protests are OK. They’re part of free speech… We just have to be ready for it. talking about these controversial issues. And I’m not anti-trans either. In fact, I have a strong history of supporting trans people, including trans children.

BILL MAHER FRITES LIBERALS FOR DEFENDING TRANS INCLUSION IN WOMEN’S SPORT, CONGRATULATES SETH MOULTON

“My kids are young. They play on mixed soccer teams, like I did when I was their age. But when they get older, when you talk about competitive sports… when people are much older, it’s It is reasonable to have restrictions,” he continued. “That’s why the NCAA has restrictions. That’s why the Olympics have restrictions. And yet for some reason, because of an orthodox litmus test in our party, we’re not even supposed to consider this idea. And I just say: let’s have a debate.”

Massachusetts Democrats held the “Neighbors for Hate” rally near Moulton’s office this weekend in response to her stance on protecting women’s sports as criticized by some. called on him to resign.

Massachusetts Democrats gathered this weekend near Rep. Seth Moulton’s office to protest his stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. (Itemlive.com)

“I have two little girls. I don’t want them to get run over on the playground by a male or former athlete, but as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that,” Moulton told the New York Times. earlier this month.

After his comments to the Times, he received a wave of backlash from members of his own party, including Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who became the first openly transgender person to win a seat in the House. Congress, and Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., who became the first openly transgender person to win a seat in Congress. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who has a transgender child.

Despite backlash from critics within his party and beyond, he defended his position, calling on those who disagree with him to discuss their differences.

DEMOCRATS WARN OF REPLACING SETH MOULTON AFTER SPEAKING OUT AGAINST TRANS ATHLETES

“My job is not just to represent the people who voted for me in Massachusetts. It’s to represent everyone,” Moulton said Tuesday. “And I’m proud to defend civil rights, but part of the civil debate in America is having freedom of speech and being willing to express your opinion.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have downplayed the impact of debate over transgender athletes could have had on the outcome of the 2024 elections.

“Another phrase that keeps popping up in these ads and right-wing media is the idea that America is facing a crisis of boys playing girls’ sports,” said the MSNBC host and former publicist. White House Press, Jen Psaki. on Sunday. “Now these ads have made it seem like the issues of trans kids playing sports are dominating schools across the country, which is completely false.”

Moulton, who was re-elected earlier this month, argued that some members of his party spend too much time trying not to offend when they should be engaging in civil debate on key issues on which they do not agree.

“You can have a debate on this issue, and that’s really my central point, is that we need to be able to debate controversial issues without just being shut down,” he said. “And that’s a problem we have in politics today. We can’t, as Democrats, feel like we can debate some of these controversial issues and risk offending people. I hear this also from my Republican colleagues Some of them They have a really hard time saying that Biden won the 2020 election or that there is good reason to get involved in Ukraine because they have. afraid of what they will hear from their own party on these controversial issues.

“But we can’t advance policies for the American people. We can’t represent the vast majority of Americans and the concerns they face if we’re not willing to actually engage in debate, and that’s really my focal point here.”

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