As the November election approaches, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton is calling out Democrat candidate James Talarico of reversing his past positions on transgender issues.
In a 2023 interview, Talarico said he loved transgender children who had come to the state capitol to advocate for themselves.
“I love — I’m just gonna say this ’cause it’s on my mind — the trans children who showed up yesterday at the State Capitol to advocate for their humanity,” Talarico said.
While serving in the Texas Legislature Talarico was a member of the LGBTQ Caucus, which supported access to puberty blockers for children and even promoted policies that allowed children to attend drag performances. He also voted against legislation that would have barred males from competing in female sports.
Now, Talarico is claiming he opposes gender reassignment surgeries for minors, marking a shift from his previous positions.
In 2023, while serving in the Legislature, Talarico strongly opposed Senate Bill 14, which prohibited physicians from providing gender reassignment surgeries to individuals under 18.
“I wanna talk about this amendment that representative Moody has brought before us that would allow parents to give this important healthcare to their children if two doctors sign off on it,” Talarico said. “I, for one, trust parents and doctors, not politicians, to make these decisions.”
However, during a recent appearance on Cogdell Law Uncensored Podcast, Talarico said he opposes “gender reassignment surgeries for minors.”
Talarico has also been caught saying what some consider creepy statements about trans children.
Talarico also made remarks regarding transgender children during a debate over House Bill 25 in 2021, legislation aimed at keeping men out of women’s sports.
During his speech opposing the bill, Talarico stated that “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.”
He concluded by addressing transgender children directly.
“To the trans kids watching at home, I just want to say, I love you and so do a lot of people in this room, and so do a lot of people around this big state. I know it may not seem like it tonight, but you are loved beyond measure.”
As Talarico has sought to distance himself from some of his previous positions on transgender issues, Paxton is calling him out, referring to him as the “most radical Democrat” to run for a statewide position in Texas.
“This is just the latest example of Talarico masquerading as a moderate when the truth is he’s the most radical Democrat to ever run statewide in Texas history,” said Paxton. “James Talafreako has proven he will lie time and time again because he knows his radical policies are extreme and completely out-of-touch with the people of Texas.”
