Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts might be the only high-profile Democrat in America eagerly campaigning as a supporter of transgender rights.
Even as many other top Democrats have grown cagey on the issue, Mr. Markey is offering a passionate defense of transgender athletes as he runs in a primary contest on Tuesday against Representative Seth Moulton, a more moderate challenger.
Mr. Markey has argued in particular that Mr. Moulton “threw trans kids under the bus” when, shortly after the 2024 election, the congressman attributed Democrats’ defeat in part to their position on transgender issues. Mr. Moulton long defended his remarks but expressed some contrition for them this month.
“Trans athletes should be able to play,” Mr. Markey said in an interview this past week. “That reflects Massachusetts and who we are. And Seth Moulton does not.”
Mr. Markey, 80, has staked out his ardent pro-trans rights position at a moment when the rest of his party is grappling with the issue, which President Trump and other Republicans have used as a cultural wedge. Ambitious younger Democrats who are likely to run for president — including Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary — have edged away from defending the participation of transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
Other prominent Democrats have sought to defuse the issue by not talking about it or punting responsibility while trying to pivot to more favorable issues like the economy.
Mr. Markey has leaned in. He is, according to Charlotte Clymer, a liberal activist and strategist who is transgender and supports the senator, “the only one who is really talking about this front and center.”
Mr. Markey said that transgender rights had “become a defining issue in this race because Massachusetts voters believe it’s disqualifying if you don’t stand up for human rights everywhere and all the time,” adding, “I believe you can be right, but too soon.”
Pointed Comments and a Backlash
The senator’s forceful message on trans rights has been fueled by the comments made by Mr. Moulton, who had largely been seen as an ally of L.G.B.T.Q. groups, the day after the 2024 election.
“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Mr. Moulton told The New York Times. “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.”
There was an immediate backlash.
Mr. Moulton’s campaign manager resigned. A city councilor in his hometown hosted a rally in opposition. Mr. Moulton defended his remarks and clashed on the issue with Gov. Maura Healey, the state’s first L.G.B.T.Q. governor. He wrote an opinion essay for The Washington Post under the headline, “I’m done with Democratic purity tests.”
The drama cemented Mr. Moulton’s image as a Democrat willing to buck his own party. He first came to Congress after ousting a longtime incumbent in 2014. Four years later, he led a group of House Democrats who tried and failed to block Representative Nancy Pelosi from becoming House speaker.
So when Mr. Moulton, 47, entered the Senate race last year, he argued that Mr. Markey was too old to seek another six years in Washington — especially when Democrats are still haunted by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s failed re-election bid. Mr. Markey and his allies made Mr. Moulton’s remarks about trans rights a centerpiece of their attacks against him.
Mr. Moulton has since cosponsored congressional legislation known as the transgender bill of rights, of which Mr. Markey is the original author. At a debate this month, Mr. Moulton also issued a qualified apology for his comments after the 2024 election.
“I deeply recognize your trauma,” he said, addressing “the trans community feeling the weight and the pain” of the Trump administration’s policies. “And I’m sorry if my comments hurt you.”
In an interview last week, Mr. Moulton said that despite that apology, he was not sorry for the substance of his earlier remarks. He said that Democrats should acknowledge that voters do not want a full integration of trans athletes into youth sports.
“There are a lot of people who agree with Democrats that trans people should be protected, have full rights, and should be able to serve in the military,” he said. “But when it comes to competitive sports, they feel uncomfortable. And our party’s message to those people has been: You are wrong and you’re a terrible person.”
He blamed Mr. Markey for injecting a divisive social issue into the primary campaign.
“Markey has tried to weaponize this issue and trans people, using them as a political football to divide voters just like the Republicans are,” Mr. Moulton said.
When asked to name the highest-profile transgender person supporting his campaign, he demurred.
“I don’t know how to answer that question, exactly,” he said. “I know there’s a number of trans people who are involved.”
A Debate Over What’s Best for Democrats
Dallas Ducar, a Markey supporter who founded a transgender health care clinic in Northampton, Mass., said the senator’s position on trans rights was a signal that he was the progressive in the race.
“He is speaking to the around 70-plus percent of Democrats that know and understand that trans people are morally legitimate and deserving of their civil rights,” said Ms. Ducar, who is transgender. “If people were asking the same question about civil rights in the 1960s and ’70s, I’d want to be on the side of the progressives.”
The available polling suggests Mr. Markey is favored in the primary race. Even Mr. Moulton acknowledged that he was behind, but he said he was counting on a comeback in the campaign’s final days.
The winner of the primary will be a heavy favorite in the general election in deep-blue Massachusetts.
Mr. Moulton urged Massachusetts Democrats to think beyond their state lines. He said the state should elect a senator who could appeal to the rest of the country to help the party build a governing majority in Washington.
He argued that it would not advance the progressive cause to have the Democratic Party branded as enthusiastically supportive of trans athletes in sports, when polls suggest that the American public believes differently.
“We need to think more about the entire Democratic team, because we’re in the minority,” Mr. Moulton said. “A lot of politics has become a purity test these days, but I’m not sure that’s good for the party or the country. We’re a democracy. We should be able to have discussions.”
