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Tufts refutes report that it’s broken ties with Seth Moulton over transgender comments
A Tufts professor reportedly said they would no longer send students to Moulton's office for internships, but the university refuted the report.
Tufts University is getting roped into the controversy surrounding a Massachusetts congressman’s comments about transgender athletes.
Rep. Seth Moulton, who represents the North Shore, told The New York Times last week he was concerned about the Democratic Party’s focus on trans rights after President Donald Trump’s decisive victory.
Moulton said he doesn’t want a “male or formerly male” athlete to “run over” his daughters on a playing field, referring to transgender athletes, but said “as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Tufts to continue internship relationship, while Moulton says Tufts is like ‘China’
The comments have been met by both rebuke and praise from members of the Democratic Party across the state, including his hometown Salem. David Art, the chair of the political science department at Tufts, told CNN and The Boston Globe that he would no longer send student interns to Moulton’s office in Salem, which was the site of protests over the weekend.
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Art reportedly told a CNN reporter that Moulton’s office was “not to contact Tufts about future internships.” The professor “was evasive” about what exactly he said but “emphasized the need for Moulton’s office to clarify its stance on Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in any schools receiving federal aid,” according to an opinion piece in the Globe.
Art did not reply to a request for comment from Boston.com. Tufts, however, replied on social media and in a statement to Boston.com that the university will not change its internship relationship with Moulton’s office.
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“We have reached out to Congressman Moulton’s office to clarify that we have not limited – and will not limit – internship opportunities with his office,” Tufts spokesperson Patrick Collins said in a statement. “We remain committed to fostering an inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives, and our Career Center will continue to provide students with a wide range of employment opportunities across the political and ideological spectrum.”
When reached for comment by the Globe, Moulton likened Tufts to China, a country that tightly limits freedom of speech and political dissent.
“[Tufts is] teaching their students that you can’t debate contentious issues. And that’s frightening. That sounds like China,” Moulton told the Globe. “This hurts the Tufts students that don’t meet their professors’ ideological purity tests.”
Local officials continue to react
Local leaders have weighed in on Moulton’s comments. Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo and the Salem School Committee denounced his remarks “in the strongest terms possible” in an email to families Friday obtained by the Globe. Salem City Councilor Kyle Davis has called on Moulton to resign.
After protests at his office from mostly queer constituents, Moulton doubled down on his initial comments, saying “the backlash has only served to reinforce my original point.”
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“Let’s stop canceling and start having these important conversations. I am confident we will remain the party that defends all Americans’ freedoms, but we need to win to do so effectively,” Moulton wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
Some polls back up Moulton’s opinion. Many voters thought Vice President Kamala Harris focused more on “cultural issues like transgender issues” rather than the middle class, according to a Blueprint poll.
While other Democrats continue to play the blame game, Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, also said Harris’s campaign left the middle class behind, but didn’t mention trans issues in a recent Globe op-ed.
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