'Too Extreme': Moulton Backs 'Reasonable' Transgender Sports Policies
SALEM, MA — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton said that while he is in favor of what he called "reasonable restrictions on transgender athletes in competitive sports" he planned to vote against the Republican "Protection of Women and Girls and Sports Act" that he called "too extreme" on Tuesday afternoon.
Under this Republican bill expected to come to the floor of the U.S. House, schools receiving federal funds would be barred from allowing transgender women and girls who were assigned male at birth to participate in women's sports.
"This is not the sort of balanced, fairness-oriented policy I've advocated for, and I won't vote
'yes' on this bill just because it is the first option that comes to the floor," he said in a statement provided to Patch on Tuesday.
- U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton: 'I'm Not Going To Apologize'
Moulton drew criticism and protests from some progressives and LGBTQIA+ advocates on the North Shore this fall for saying he did not want his two daughters getting "run over" on an athletic field by a "male or formerly male athlete" to illustrate a bigger hurdle he said the Democratic party faces in relating to what he called "everyday Americans."
He later refused to apologize for the remarks and said the backlash he received from his comments on transgender athletes playing girls sports — including from within his hometown of
Salem — was proof that segments of the Democratic party are "out of touch with everyday Americans" because of their unwillingness to have conversations that may offend people.
"To be clear, I firmly believe that there should be reasonable restrictions on transgender athletes in competitive sports," he reiterated in Tuesday's statement. "This is a matter of safety and fairness for female athletes who have worked exceptionally hard to compete.
"There is no denying that there are biological differences that result from being born male.
Ignoring this scientific fact and opposing any attempt at regulation is not only wrong, but it undermines what I believe should be a broader effort to enshrine core civil rights protections for
transgender Americans."
Critics charged that statements like those of Moulton serve to further marginalize a transgender community that is already among the most vulnerable in society to hate, bias, depression, self-harm and suicide.
- U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton Blasts 'Purity Tests' Amid Transgender Comment Backlash
He said the Republican bill planned for a Tuesday vote "simply goes too far" because he said it "fails to distinguish between children and adults and different levels of athletics." He said under the bill school-age children could be put under scrutiny because of questions about their natural size and athletic abilities.
"My kids play co-ed sports today just as I did when I was their age, and I don't want any kids
their age subjected to the invasive violations of personal privacy this bill allows," he said. "Under
this law, a 10-year-old girl who seems 'too tall' or even just 'too good' could be targeted by officials and forced to release medical information or have her private parts inspected, which is disturbing, to say the least, and a slippery slope for school policy and youth athletics."
Moulton, however, once again doubled down on his stance that Democrats have "failed to come to the table in good faith to debate an issue on which the vast majority of Americans believe we are out of touch" when it comes to transgender athlete restrictions.
He previously
"We should be able to discuss regulations for trans athletes in competitive sports while still staunchly defending the rights of transgender Americans to simply exist without the fear or danger of oppression," he said on Tuesday. "But instead, we've run away from the issue altogether. As a result, Republicans are in charge and continue to set the agenda with extremist bills like this."
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
