Texas’s state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for Senate, has clarified his stance on equal rights protections for trans athletes during a Sept. 24 interview at The Texas Tribune Festival. Talarico sat down for a one-on-one live event with The Tribune’s Matthew Watkins.
“You say, ‘I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness,” the moderator said. “This contrasts with your vote on SB 15 that banned this practice statewide. Have you changed positions on this topic?”
“No, my position is exactly the same,” Talarico jumped in. “The reason I opposed that bill is because it was a blanket statewide ban without any appreciation for nuance.”
Senate Bill 15, passed in 2023, banned colleges from allowing transgender athletes to play on a gendered team that differed from their sex assigned at birth in intercollegiate competitions. It also created a private right of action that would allow any person to sue Texas’s public colleges and universities if they believed an athlete was on the “wrong” team.
“I supported an amendment to that bill to allow local officials—education officials, local sports officials—to decide on an athlete by athlete, sport by sport basis, if there’s safety and fairness. That has always been my North Star and it’s gonna continue to be my North Star,” he continued.
“I’m also always gonna stand up to politicians who bully students, who bully kids, to score political points. My faith teaches me that every child is made in the image of God. And so I’m always gonna push back against efforts to grandstand, when it comes to our students, and I’ll always fight to make sure … every sport is safe and fair.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive goals,” Talarico concluded. “That’s exactly what I did in the state house. It’s exactly my position now. It’ll be my position in the US Senate.”
In the past, Talarico has said he opposes “trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness”—a strategic framing that sidesteps questions about the role of the federal government in regulating who gets to play on what team and enjoy certain gender-related civil rights protections.
Talarico is running for Senate against Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican with a history of enacting violent policies against transgender kids, including using state child protective services to investigate parents for child abuse if they supported their gender diverse child.
Talarico still pledges to support a national ban on surgical interventions that help transgender youth, which may include top surgery or hormone implants. Nonetheless, his opponents still flooded the airwaves with attack ads claiming he “voted to spend our tax dollars on sex change surgeries for kids”—a common rhetorical device used by Republicans to stir controversy over the lawful, safe and provision of individualized, evidence-based care for transgender people
I truly want politicians to start saying this very clear statement: "Anybody who spends any time thinking about the genitals of a child needs to get help and to stop, immediately. It is not normal, okay or healthy for adults to obsess about what children look like underneath their clothes. No child is safe growing up with this disgusting cultural fixation about their naked bodies. It's time to move on from this, for the sake of our children."
Texan here. Still infuriated by his refusal to support trans people.