The comments drew ire from fellow Democrats in Massachusetts and condemnation from the state’s LGBTQ+ community. On Friday, Moulton’s top campaign official resigned but declined to say why.

In Moulton’s hometown of Salem, Mayor Dominick Pangallo and the school committee sent a joint email to town residents, saying Moulton’s comments “do not reflect our values.”

“We want to reassure our LGBTQ+ students that we as district leaders will always celebrate your identities, support your dreams and aspirations, and applaud your achievements,” the email said.

Matt Chilliak, Moulton’s campaign manager and director of his “Serve America” ​​political committee, confirmed to the Globe that he had resigned but did not elaborate on whether this was related to the comments and directed further questions to Moulton’s office.

Moulton, who briefly sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination, said in a statement Friday evening that while he supports the rights of transgender people, he is “firm in my belief” in favor of restrictions on transgender participation in competitive sports. women’s sports.

“These two ideas are not mutually exclusive, and we may even disagree about them. Yet there are many who, shouting from the far-left corners of social media, believe that I have failed the Democratic Party’s unspoken purity test,” he said. “We did not lose the 2024 election because of any trans person or issue. We lost in part because we shame and belittle too many opinions from too many voters, and that has to stop.”

Moulton’s comments came as Democrats were in the area The country is trying to understand where their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the major party went wrong this election cycle.

After Donald Trump’s victory on Tuesday, Democrats took turns pointing fingers. Harris’ allies blamed President Biden for staying in the race too long before dropping out, talked about disinformation, and some, like Moulton, blamed the emphasis on identity politics at the expense of the economy and immigration, issues that voters working class people often mentioned their biggest concerns.

Transgender rights, including the question of whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports, have long been a hot topic. Locally, a new state law in New Hampshire banning transgender girls from middle and high school girls’ sports led to a lawsuit against the family of a transgender girl.

In the late days of the campaign, Republicans spent heavily on ads attacking transgender rights and on Harris for her past statements supporting gender-affirming care for prisoners.

The Massachusetts Democratic Party said Moulton’s comments “do not represent the broad vision of our party.” Chairman Steve Kerrigan said the party is “proud to stand with the LGTBQ+ community, especially our transgender friends, neighbors and loved ones across the Commonwealth.”

The Republican Party, however, applauded Moulton on Friday.

“The backlash against Congressman Moulton for making this statement is one of the reasons why Democrats across the country suffered significant losses this election cycle,” said party chair Amy Carnevale. “Republicans agree that it is entirely possible to respect gender preferences while recognizing that the physical differences between men and women pose obvious risks in sports.”

Massachusetts state Rep. Manny Cruz, a Democrat from Salem and a member of the city’s school committee, said he agrees Democrats need to do some soul-searching, but “they shouldn’t look beyond themselves. ”

“To hear my congressman talk about identity politics as the reason we lost the election is so off-base,” he said. “He has two ears and one mouth, and he must use them in that proportion.”

While Moulton is not the only Democrat calling for a reckoning after election losses — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, called out identity politics when he said Wednesday that the party was “failing the working class” — some felt the Moulton’s comments were inappropriate. mean and unnecessary.

The comments prompted strong rebukes from Massachusetts’ LGTBQ+ community, which has spoken out in recent days after Trump, who has made attacking transgender Americans central to his campaign, won a second term in the White House on Tuesday.

LGTBQ advocacy group Mass Equality said Moulton’s comments were “both harmful and factually incorrect.”

“Our community is deeply hurt by these comments, which reinforce harmful stereotypes and undermine the dignity of transgender athletes,” said Tanya Neslusan, executive director of Mass Equality.

State Rep. John Moran, an openly gay Democrat from the South End, called Moulton “weak” on Friday. And on Friday afternoon, about a dozen people showed up at Moulton’s district office in Salem to protest his comments, even though the office was closed for Veterans Day, a holiday on Monday.

Aria Stewart, who identifies as a transgender woman, organized the last-minute protest “to send a message to Moulton that he is alienating people” and accused Moulton of using “a familiar dog whistle” in his comments about transgender men playing women’s sports. .

Kyle Davis, a Salem city councilman who attended the protest, also questioned the timing of the comments, coming just days after the election.

“With all the things Trump has said about trans people, this is a time when the trans community is feeling a lot of fear,” he said.

Billy Baker of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Samantha J. Gross can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @samanthajgross.