James Talarico, professional heretic and Democrat Senate candidate in Texas, claimed that refusing to cross-dress and mutilate children in pursuit of transgender ideology was “abusive.” He even suggested authorities could officially label it child abuse, which would mean depriving parents of custody.
Fox News identified the newly resurfaced clip as coming from a 2019 committee hearing in the Texas legislature. Talarico obviously knew that what he was saying was crazy even for a Democrat, because he hedged his bets a little and didn’t explicitly say that he believed authorities should definitively classify opposition to transgender ideology as abuse meriting confiscation of children. But what he said was still incredibly concerning and promoted the idea that sticking with biological reality is abusive parenting.
This is absolutely DISGUSTING. James Talarico said parents who don’t transition their kids are “abusive” and thinks they should have their kids taken from them. https://t.co/e001BnGzr2
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) September 14, 2026
The debate was over HB 1910, which said, “In determining whether to appoint a party as a sole or joint managing conservator of a child, the court may not consider evidence regarding whether the party demonstrates a history or pattern of acknowledging or declining to acknowledge the child’s gender identity or expression.” The legislation did not ultimately pass.
Talarico certainly opposed the legislation. “That would be, I think there are some folks, um, that would think that if you deny your child's gender identity, that that's incredibly harmful,” Talarico rambled. “And whether or not we can we label it with the term abuse, I mean, it's abusive, for sure. And so that's where I think some of us have concerns, and I don't want to speak for other members.”
Another member asked if Talarico was “suggesting that it ought to say that it should include a person's willingness [or] unwillingness to acknowledge a child’s gender, or should it be silent as to whether that is abuse?”
In the same incoherent style, Talarico answered, “My just — concern is ruling it out as not being abuse, I think, is dangerous and could certainly harm some of our most vulnerable kids in the state.” In other words, vulnerable children might not be pressured into making permanently disastrous decisions.
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While the clip is from 2019, it is important because Talarico is now trying to modify his position without actually rejecting his previous extreme statements on radical LGBTQ ideology. For instance, he claimed to Fox that he saw legitimacy in the argument against biological men in women’s sports without being willing to say that such a phenomenon is outright wrong. He is also on record claiming that there are six biological sexes and that God is “non-binary,” among other ridiculous assertions. He made the claim about a non-binary God specifically while trying to justify mutilation of children for transgender ideology.
Talarico: They’re going to call me a radical leftist. Also Talarico: Trans abortions, God is non-binary, six genders, no prisons. So, yeah. https://t.co/XlswxR1X5A
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) March 5, 2026
So Talarico has been an LGBTQ extremist for years and hasn’t really changed.
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