Since Congressman Seth Moulton took heat for post-election comments about transgender athletes, others in the Democratic Party have publicly suggested they feel similarly. But Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday that her thoughts have not changed since she criticized Moulton for "playing politics with people."
The Salem congressman came under fire after the November election when he told the New York Times that Democrats "spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face" and said he doesn't want his two daughters "getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete."
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"But as a Democrat, I’m supposed to be afraid to say that," Moulton said.
Asked Wednesday about recent comments from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others making largely the same point as Moulton and whether it is part of a broader reconsideration a few months later, Healey told GBH Radio that she feels the same way she did when she first dinged Moulton's comment.
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"No. Look, I think people are playing into -- let's know, this has been the game. This has been the Republican game, is to pick a really discreet issue -- the number of transgender people in this country is very small, the number of transgender athletes in this country is even smaller -- and blow that up into something," Healey said, without reiterating any of her criticism of Moulton. "What we should be focusing on is how and where is Trump going to deliver on his campaign promise, which was to lower costs, which is not what he's doing."
"Unfortunately, the word, the term, DEI, it's become completely caricatured, right? Which is why I don't even say the word DEI. I say what it is, diversity, inclusion, equity, all right?" the governor said.
Healey added, "Let's get back to saying the words and make people say and explain why they oppose diversity, why they oppose inclusion. You know, antics of more discussion or platforming of Charlie Kirk, to me, that's not what I'm about, OK? As governor in this state, I believe in diversity, I believe that we should continue to have women and people of color at the table, I believe it is wrong to exclude somebody because they have a disability, it is wrong to exclude somebody because of their sexual orientation. That's not what Massachusetts is about, and actually, under federal law, that's not what this country is about. So let's move on."
