Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D), who’s running for the US Senate, told MS NOW host Rachel Maddow that he’s not going to back down on supporting trans rights because “I don’t think we win by selling people out.”
Maddow told Talarico that there are people who believe that he can’t win statewide in Texas because he has been “empathetic toward and voices support for trans people” and has “not been willing to join in the demonization of trans people that motivates so many candidates right now.” Maddow was likely referring to many of his statements made as a member of the Texas House of Representatives that Republicans have been using to attack him over the past several months.
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“I don’t think we win by selling people out,” Talarico responded. “We’re refusing to do that in this campaign. This is a campaign of, by, and for all Texans, and I think people are really tired of these culture war fights that are designed to tear us apart, designed to get us angry.”
“There are difficult issues. Trying to figure out trans athletes in sports, that’s an issue where we could actually come to a policy solution, but instead, politicians like Ken Paxton, they use those difficult issues to rile people up, to divide us, to distract us in order to win power for themselves.”
Maddow was referring to how Talarico’s opponent in the Senate race, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and other Republicans have attacked Talarico repeatedly for supporting trans rights and for not being masculine enough. This includes constantly highlighting his opposition to the state’s trans sports ban and ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, as well as comments he made about how the gender binary isn’t real and how he appreciates trans kids.
Talarico, though, has moderated some of his positions on LGBTQ+ issues for the general election. In a June interview, Talarico says that he does not support “gender-reassignment surgeries for minors” without elaborating.
Gender-affirming surgery for trans minors is very rare, and gender-affirming care for trans minors generally involves social transitioning and sometimes hormone therapy. While genital surgery is not performed on minors, some older trans masc teens get top surgery if they meet the stringent requirements. They have low rates of regret.
Also in this interview with Maddow, he appeared to say that he may support some restrictions on trans people’s participation in sports when he called the issue one “where we could actually come to a policy solution,” aligning him with other Democrats like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA). LGBTQ Nation has asked Talarico’s campaign to provide more details on his position on trans sports participation, and this article will be updated if they respond.
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