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In the immediate aftermath of President Donald J. Trump’s 2024 victory, conventional wisdom held that Democrats would need to moderate their position on transgenderism if they hoped to be competitive again. The candidates in the Massachusetts Senate Democratic primary argued about the issue in a recent debate – though it is unclear whether there is actually a meaningful distinction between them.

In the debate, Senator Ed Markey, the incumbent, criticized his challenger Representative Seth Moulton over past comments he had made regarding male-to-female athletes playing in sports. After Trump’s reelection, Moulton had remarked, “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.” In addition to contradicting official Democratic Party orthodoxy stating that Moulton should in fact celebrate his daughters getting run over by this hypothetical athlete, he no doubt landed himself in hot water with his “formerly male” terminology, which is not a phrase a Democratic drone in good standing would use.

Moulton’s response to Markey in the debate was instructive, though, as it demonstrated how much the electoral mood has changed in the previous two years. Rather than defend his comments, as he had previously during the initial 2024 backlash, Moulton apologized for them. He weakly argued, “My intention is to say, if we as Democrats don’t start making these decisions, don’t foster this debate ourselves, then we’re just ceding the field to Republicans who will continue to put forward this hateful legislation.” He also said that transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in female sports, while non-specifically adding that there should be a conversation about fairness and safety.

Markey accused Moulton of “…[throwing] those trans kids under the political bus…” in another comment that reflected the Democratic Party’s intractability on this issue. The fact of the matter is that despite all the post-2024 election chatter, it remains impossible for a Democrat to push back on the concept of kids switching their gender, or transgender athletes’ unfair competitive advantage, and remain a member of the party in good standing. Unless and until that changes, all we have is vague talk of potential moderation that never happens, while the party remains on the wrong side of basic truth.