Seth Moulton defends his transgender comments after protest

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Rep. Seth Moulton has doubled down on his comments on transgender issues after a bunch of local activists protested outside his Salem office over the weekend.

Moulton, who represents much of the North Shore, has been under fire since last week when his comments about transgender youth were highlighted in an article about reactions to Vice President Kamala Harris' loss within the presidential election.

“Democrats spend far too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges facing many Americans,” Moulton said within the article titled “Devastated Democrats are playing the blame game and staring a bleak future.” Published Thursday.

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

Moulton, who has represented Massachusetts' sixth Congressional District since 2015, defended his comments on Facebook on Sunday.

He said three sorts of people contacted him about his statements: individuals who agree with him, individuals who “provide thoughtful, constructive feedback” and folks who “make no effort to engage constructively.”

“Our party has no problem talking down to those with whom we disagree, but it has a serious problem having real, honest conversations about difficult issues,” he wrote on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the backlash has only served to reinforce my original point.”

Moulton reiterated to GBH News last week that he believes Democrats have “lost touch with the American people.”

“I mean, here we are accusing Republicans of being weird, and we're the ones suddenly requiring people to put pronouns in their email signatures,” he said GBH. “I mean, that's kind of weird, to be honest.”

Protest: “Eat your local fascist and protect your local queer witch”

Witch City Punks Against Hate organized a protest Saturday afternoon outside Moulton's downtown Salem office on Front Street, in keeping with co-organizer Coyote Sanchez, a Salem resident. reported to further protests in his office on Friday.

Sanchez, 26, told Boston.com that the protest of about 30 people included signs and chants corresponding to “Seth Moulton is a clown / It's time for him to leave town.” Other chants included “Eat your local fascists and protect your local queer witch” and “Seth Moulton has to go.”

“We don’t want to be neighbors with him anymore,” Sanchez said. “We as a movement do not stand by these statements. We don't tolerate them. We don't agree with them. I know that Mayor (Dominick) Pangallo himself has said he disagrees with these statements.” (Salem officials condemned Moulton's statements Friday.)

Sanchez said Moulton blamed trans youth for the election defeat and that his comments were willfully ignorant and could incite violence against trans people.

“How are you supposed to take it when a congressman from your state, someone who was elected to represent you, calls you out for losing the election?” Sanchez said. “He is very aware of the meaning of the words he says. He just doesn’t want to be held accountable for it and he doesn’t like harsh criticism, but I feel like we need harsh criticism when we’re running against people like Donald Trump in office.”

Moulton said on Facebook that Democrats appear to have been “out of touch on a variety of cultural and economic issues,” contributing to election losses.

“We can’t protect trans rights and so many other things if we don’t start winning elections. “You cannot win the majority by ignoring their views,” Moulton wrote. “So let’s stop canceling and instead start having these important conversations. I am confident we will remain the party that defends the freedoms of all Americans, but we must win to do so effectively.”