Tufts University responds after lawmaker’s remarks on trans athletes

A private college in Massachusetts is pushing back against allegations that it would no longer facilitate student internships with a congressman in the wake of comments the lawmaker made about transgender student-athletes. 
In an interview Thursday with The New York Times, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., blamed Democrats’ widespread losses at the polls last week in part on his party’s approach to debates about trans students participating in youth sports. 
“I have two little girls,” Moulton said. “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.” 
Those comments triggered backlash, including a phone call Friday from David Art, who heads the political science department at Tufts University, according to internal call logs from Moulton’s office. The records, which Moulton’s office provided to USA TODAY, show Art spoke with a staffer for the congressman on Friday and said his department would no longer facilitate student internship opportunities with Moulton. According to the records, Art said he consulted with his colleagues, who didn’t want Moulton’s office to contact his department about internships. 
Art did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, but he previously told an opinion writer for The Boston Globe that he “definitely said other things in addition to that.” He also told the Globe he had urged Moulton’s office to clarify its position on Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs. 
In a statement to USA TODAY, Patrick Collins, the executive director for media relations at Tufts, said the university is not discouraging internship opportunities with Moulton, who won reelection handily last week after running unopposed in a blue district.
“We have reached out to Congressman Moulton’s office to clarify that we have not – and will not – limit internship opportunities with his office,” Collins said. “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.” 
In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Tuesday morning, Moulton amped up his criticism of the university and broader disapproval among Democrats about his remarks. 
“This is just everything that’s wrong with this cancel culture,’” he said. 
The Democrat’s comments represent one of several ideological fractures that have emerged after his party’s stinging performance in the presidential election and down-ballot races across the country. Republicans sailed to victory on Tuesday in a red wave that will likely lead to GOP control of most of the levers of power in Washington, D.C. 
Mired in the early stages of a divisive post-mortem, some Democrats are pushing the party to shift its messaging on a variety of issues, including immigration policy and culture-war topics. 
Dozens of anti-transgender measures targeting athletics in K-12 and higher education have been introduced in recent years at the state and federal level, according to the independent research group the Trans Legislation Tracker.
The organization says that more than one-third of states have “passed laws banning transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.”
Only about 1.4% of young people between 13 and 17 identify as transgender, according to federal survey data and the Williams Institute, a research center at the University of California, Los Angeles. According to a 2017 study of 17,000 young people conducted by the University of Connecticut and the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, only 14% of trans boys and 12% of trans girls said they played sports. 
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.