BOSTON — State Senate candidate Dean Tran is “furious and upset” with statements made by the state Democratic Party, which on Monday called on Gov. Charlie Baker to rescind his support for Tran after the Republican expressed viewpoints that differed from his party’s leader.

Debate summary/8

In a weekend debate, Tran said a transgender anti-discrimination law may endanger children and he also opposed using state tax dollars to help fund Planned Parenthood. Both views run contrary to Baker’s positions on the same issues. The at-large Fitchburg city councilor said in a telephone interview the Democrat Party’s announcement was made “for the sole purpose to run a negative campaign by a candidate who cannot relate to people in the district.

Tran said he takes offense to the Democrat Party claim that he compared members of the transgender community to “sexual predators” during a state Senate debate Saturday held on local cable access televisions.

“When I use ‘sexual predators’ I was referencing the work that I did as a city councilor at-large in the city of Fitchburg,” said Tran. “I went after sex offenders, and that was the sole purpose of me using those terms.”

Tran, a a Vietnamese immigrant who was brought to the United States as a young boy, said at the debate he has been discriminated against his entire life.

“I would never discriminate (against) anyone regardless of race, age, gender or economic status,” he told his two Senate challengers and debate host Kevin Cormier. “However, I have some concerns about the lack of protections of children against sexual predators.”

As an at-large councilor Tran proposed a residency restriction measure for sex offenders and a proposal to list sex offenders’ names on city water bills.

He said his opposition stems from the concern that a sex offender may enter an opposite-sex bathroom then claim the action is legal under the transgender anti-discrimination transgender law.

“My concern is that you can have a level-3 sex offender claim that he is protected under the identity crisis law and take advantage of it by making himself accommodated in the bathrooms,” he said. “It has nothing to do with discrimination against transgenders.”

Tran, who during the debate suggested “unisex facilities with stalls” as a potential solution, said the Democrats’ claims were particularly offensive because his campaign manager, Gwen Meunier, is a transgender woman.

Meunier said, “I can personally vouch that he doesn’t discriminate against anyone.”

Tran said during the debate he does not support using state funds to support Planned Parenthood should federal money dry up, as Baker has pledged.

“I would prefer any public funding proposed to go to Planned Parenthood to be directed to local health clinics and organizations,” he said.

The candidate noted how two such healthcare clinics, Community Heath Connections and Care Net Pregnancy Resources Center, which does not provide abortions, closed after the Planned Parenthood he opposed as city councilor opened on Main Street in Fitchburg, saying at the debate he didn’t want a “duplication of services.”

In the interview, Tran said, “I have always been a staunch proponent of providing health care to women and children, so any time there’s a discussion to take away funding to support such care I will oppose it.”

At the debate hosted Saturday by Fitchburg-Leominster All Politics and aired on public access television, Tran said he would “prefer any public funding proposed to go to Planned Parenthood be directed to local health clinics and organizations.”

Baker still supports Tran, according to the governor’s political advisor Jim Conroy.

“The governor disagrees with Dean on these issues, which is why he signed transgender protections into law and has worked to preserve funding for planned parenthood,” Conroy said in a statement responding to the Democrats.

This is the second time this month the Democrats have asked Baker to rescind an endorsement. Party leaders issued the same call toward Attleboro Republican Jacob Ventura for his views on Planned Parenthood, gay marriage and other social issues. Baker said he disagreed with Ventura, who ultimately lost his race to a Democrat, on those issues but did not withdraw his support.

Tran said he would have to read through opponents’ measures to repeal the law protecting transgender individuals from discrimination in public accommodations like bathrooms before deciding whether he would support it.

Tran is not the only candidate running for the Worcester-Middlesex state Senate seat vacated in August by Jennifer Flanagan who expressed concerns about the anti-discrimination law signed by Baker. Unenrolled candidate Claire Freda, who participated in the debate with Sue Chalifoux Zephir and Tran ahead of the Dec. 5 general election, answered the question about the transgender anti-discrimination law after Tran.

She said Tran made “some good points” and “none of us is going to sit here and say that we would discriminate against somebody.” But, she said, “there are some people that are very concerned about their children and what the possibilities are so I think it needs to be looked at closely and carefully before it moves ahead.”

Material from the State House News Service was used in this report