In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico revealed his support for banning gender surgery for minors and expressed opposition to transgender-identifying men competing in women’s sports.
Talarico also retracted some of his previous controversial statements, such as claiming there are six genders and that “God is nonbinary.”
As the Texas Senate race, which recent Fox News polling indicates is unexpectedly tight, approaches its final months, this race is crucial for both parties’ efforts to secure a Senate majority.
Talarico is going up against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who has his own controversies. A Republican defeat in Texas could significantly impact President Trump’s agenda.
Fox News spoke with Talarico at a food drive campaign event in Dallas on Tuesday, coinciding with the first-ever GOP midterm convention occurring nearby in downtown Dallas.
Talarico firmly stated, “Absolutely,” when asked if he would support a national ban on gender surgery for minors if elected as a US senator.
He explained, “I’ve been consistent on this issue,” citing his opposition to a Texas bill banning transgender surgeries on minors due to its “overly broad” nature.
“If you go back and check, I voted for a major amendment to limit the bill to banning surgeries for minors,” he said. “As a lawmaker, my job is to try to sift through everything the bill does. And sometimes there’s stuff in it that’s really harmful, and I have no choice but to oppose the bill as a whole.”
“It’s why I try to use amendments, to narrow the focus of the bill so that it does exactly what we intend it to do,” he continued. “It’s what I tried to do with that piece of legislation, and unfortunately the amendment I supported was unsuccessful.”
In 2023, while serving in the Texas House of Representatives, Talarico voted against a state bill known as SB 14, which sought to ban certain gender surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments for minors.
Democrats proposed 18 amendments to the bill, all of which Talarico supported, though none succeeded.
During the interview, Talarico acknowledged that the involvement of men in women’s sports is a significant issue in Texas. He stated, “I oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.”
“Every sport has to be safe and fair. As a former public school teacher, I care a lot about our student athletes. I care a lot about our students. And so, I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness,” he said.
Talarico’s comments reflect a departure from his earlier stance as a Texas state lawmaker.
In 2021, while on the Texas House Public Education Committee, he opposed SB 29, which aimed to require public school athletes to compete based on the biological sex on their birth certificates, dismissing the issue as a “manufactured problem.”
Later that year, he voted against HB 25, which implemented similar restrictions into Texas law.
He also addressed one of his most contentious statements from 2021, made while opposing a Texas bill to keep men out of women’s sports. Talarico stated on the House floor that “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.”
“I was being provocative with that statement. I get that,” Talarico admitted, explaining, “What I was trying to say is that you can’t use human categories to define God, and that’s not controversial theologically. In fact, the late Charlie Kirk, the late Pope Benedict all said the same thing.”
Talarico continued, asserting, “these comments are being clipped out of context to try to distract from Ken Paxton’s career of corruption.”
“You mentioned [Paxton] being acquitted in the state Senate. That was after two of his billionaire megadonors gave the lieutenant governor a $3 million check to buy his acquittal,” Talarico said.
“So, Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas and he’s gonna try to clip some of my comments, including comments where I was being a little provocative in order to try to distract from that career.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Paxton campaign for comment.
Regarding his previous statement about there being more than two genders, Talarico clarified that he no longer believes there are six sexes.
“I’ve missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it,” he said. “What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there’s a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities.”
“Obviously didn’t say it correctly. There are not six sexes. There are two, and I think the reason that politicians in that convention center across the street want to talk about six sexes is because they don’t want to talk about $6 diesel,” he said.
Despite retracting these controversial statements, Talarico did not hold back from criticizing the Supreme Court, describing it as “infected” with corruption and suggesting it “needs to be overhauled.”
He stated that if elected, “You’re going to expect that I will vote for overhaul to the Supreme Court. That will include binding codes of conduct for our justices. It’ll include term limits, and I am open to a discussion about expanding the number of justices.”
Following these controversies, Talarico vowed to concentrate on affordability for the rest of his campaign.
“Everywhere I go across the state of Texas, people are struggling to survive in this economy. They are struggling to afford the basics: groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare. And that’s what I’m going to be focused on from now until Election Day.”
On the issue of affordability, Talarico argued that “we should not have a state income tax” in Texas. This stance contrasts with his earlier vote against a measure to permanently ban a state income tax, which he deemed redundant and an example of “government waste at its worst.”
The measure was ultimately passed by the Texas Legislature and approved by Texas voters in November 2019.
