In order to persuade voters to support their party in the upcoming midterm elections, Texas Republicans have made trans issues a major part of their campaign strategy.
In September only, over$ 37 million was spent by super PACs connected to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in support of Texas’s transgender-related problems, according to one study.
One special advertisement has become a lightning strike. There is nothing more important than my children, according to a girl named Miriam Evans, who is a mother of five.
” James Talarico may worry every Texas mother,” he said. If families do not want their children to transition, James Talarico supports families who are accused of child abuse. Let that fall in for a moment. If kids don’t want their kids to undergo surgical transition, they could be jailed. Do not support James Talarico if you care about your kids,” she remarked.
The advertisement was described as an “outlandish smear,” according to one democratic analyst. On Wednesday, October 21, Talarico himself gave an interview on Fox 26 Houston.
” It’s a lie. He claimed that all of these advertisements have been erasing his reputation. They have been removing the environment from the things I’ve said in an effort to present me in the worst conceivable light.
But, Talarico’s opinion on whether supporting a child’s sex move should be viewed as abuse appears to have changed over time.
In response to the custody dispute between Jeffrey Younger and Anne Georgulas, state representative Jay Dean (R-Longview ) introduced House Bill 1910. The bill was never enacted into law or passed. The bill would have added the phrase” Abuse” to Texas Family Code 261.001, which defines abuse and neglect in Texas, among other things.” Abuse does not include a person’s willingness or unwillingness to recognize a child’s gender identity or representation.”
Talarico cited the clause as an objection to the bill. During a hearing on the act, he said,” It seems like what we’re really saying is that denying a child’s gender identity doesn’t rise to the level of abuse.” We’re therefore making a benefit assessment by deciding that this should not be taken into account in these decisions.
Finally, he was asked if he would back a bill that stated that a mother’s willingness or unwillingness to help a child’s gender transition. Talarico responded,” I believe there are some people who believe that denying your child’s gender identity is very damaging.” And it’s certainly aggressive, regardless of whether we use the word “abuse.” Some of us, in my opinion, have fears about that.
Talarico did not support the legal definition of infant gender transitions as being victimization at the time. He came to the conclusion that “my issue is ruling it out as never being misuse.”
But, Talarico after voted in favor of doing just that. State Representative Matt Shaheen (R-Plano ) introduced HB 1106, which dealt with the same subjects as HB 1910 in 2025. The bill was approved by the Texas House on May 14, 2025, and it became laws in the following month. The policy was not approved by Talarico.
Talarico backed a number of the proposed policy amendments, though. Amendment 4 was one of those that Texas representative Jolanda Jones (D-Houston ) offered. The amendment would have “made it evident” in the law that” a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation” should be treated as such under Texas law” and” should be treated as like” in the law.
Rejecting a child’s gender change would have been formally classified as child abuse under Texas law, which is either a criminal or a group A criminal, both of which could lead to prison sentences if the article had been approved, as Talarico voted for.
Less than four times before Talarico announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate, the Jones act was approved. He then declares that if elected, he would support a ban on transgender surgeries performed on adolescents.
