𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐎 𝐕𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐘
In a Sept. 8 Fox News interview, Texas Democrat James Talarico said he would vote for a national ban on gender surgery for minors. He also said he has “𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞.”
Then, per the New York Post, he flew to Greenwich Village. His Tuesday fundraiser was hosted by 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 or its foundation: Morgan Cox, author Andrew Solomon and former Ambassador James Costos.
The HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ lobbying group. Its own foundation guide lists puberty blockers for “𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺- 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴” and cross-sex hormones as steps in transition. Tickets ran from $1,000 to $13,500.
Talarico’s record is the other half of the story. In 2023 𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐚𝐰, that banned gender surgery, puberty blockers and hormones for minors. His spokesman says any suggestion he changed positions is “𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦.”
Paxton’s campaign answered: “𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳.” With the race a dead heat, Texas voters get to decide which Talarico they believe.
𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭.