Seth Moulton Booed at Boston Pride Parade Over Trans Comments
The Massachusetts congressman drew jeers from some parade-goers over remarks he made about transgender athletes following the 2024 election.
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who is running for the U.S. Senate, was booed by spectators when a contingent representing his office marched in the Boston Pride Parade on June 6, according to videos posted on social media.
Moulton, 47, has mounted a primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, 79, a fellow Massachusetts Democrat and longtime LGBTQ ally — a bid that, a decade ago, might have been dismissed as a fool’s errand.
However, concerns about Markey’s age and whether he may decline physically or mentally while in office have made the race appear more competitive than many expected, reflecting broader unease among some Democrats about older politicians serving in elected office.
But Moulton’s chief sin, in the eyes of many LGBTQ community members, was a series of comments he made following former Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in the 2024 election.
At the time, some Democrats believed Harris had been politically damaged by attacks from President Donald Trump’s campaign portraying her as focused on niche issues, particularly whether transgender inmates should be allowed to receive gender-affirming surgery at taxpayer expense — a policy that was also enforced during Trump’s first term.
Afterward, despite polling suggesting that Harris’s loss was driven more by voters’ concerns about the economy than social issues, several Democrats, including Moulton, publicly opposed allowing transgender girls and women to compete in female-designated sports.
Moulton drew the ire of transgender activists and some fellow Democrats for referring to transgender girls as “male” and saying: “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.”
Despite receiving backlash, Moulton doubled down on his stance.
“Here we are accusing Republicans of being weird, and we’re the ones who are suddenly requiring people to put pronouns in their email signatures,” Moulton said in an interview with WGBH. “All of a sudden, we have to change all our values to meet the needs or demands of one very small minority group.”
Moulton later sought to soften his previous statements by acknowledging the discrimination and violence faced by many transgender people and highlighting his support for pro-LGBTQ legislation, including the Equality Act. Although he has never voted for a transgender sports ban while in Congress, some critics continue to associate him with such efforts, and he has continued to warn Democrats about being perceived as rigid on transgender issues.
One video from the Pride parade, shot by 22-year-old Harvard alum and progressive content creator Aidan Kohn-Murphy, shows attendees booing the congressman, calling him a “transphobe,” and chanting “Trans lives matter!” Another shows parade-goers shouting “Shame on you!” at Moulton.
Kohn-Murphy told Erin in the Morning that he was motivated to speak out against Moulton over what he viewed as efforts to scapegoat trans youth for Democrats’ electoral losses.
“There’s no queer community without trans people,” Kohn-Murphy said. “Trans people have constantly led the way in our movement and in the path towards queer liberation.”
Kohn-Murphy told Erin in the Morning that “[Moulton]’s a politician who does not have any concrete value system. I think if he’s willing to throw some of the most vulnerable in our community under the bus, then he cannot be trusted.”
Parade attendee Monica Reina-Gonzalez defended booing the congressman in comments to The Boston Globe.
“You can’t come here and act like you support our community when you’re blaming our kids for losing the election,” she said.
Moulton’s office responded to the video clips.
“Seth was honored to walk in solidarity with and support the LGBTQIA+ community on Saturday,” the statement read. “Let’s be clear: what you see in that clip was a coordinated political stunt led by a staffer from Senator Markey’s 2020 campaign and other Markey supporters. They passed out anti-Moulton flyers and actively encouraged bystanders to boo.”
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