Talarico on children's gender Identity

James Talarico called parents 'abusive' for rejecting children's gender identity in resurfaced 2019 video

A resurfaced clip from a 2019 Texas Legislature hearing shows Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico declaring that parents who refuse to affirm a child's gender identity are engaged in "abusive" behavior, a position now colliding with his campaign's moderate rebrand.

Talarico, a former state representative now locked in a competitive race for a Texas Senate seat against Republican Ken Paxton, made the remarks during a committee hearing on HB 1910, a bill designed to prevent family courts from treating a parent's refusal to affirm a child's gender identity as evidence of child abuse in custody disputes.

Fox News Digital reported on the video and obtained responses from both the Republican National Committee and the Talarico campaign.

The bill's language was straightforward. It barred judges from weighing "whether the party demonstrates a history or pattern of acknowledging or declining to acknowledge the child's gender identity or expression" when deciding custody.

Talarico opposed it, and went further, arguing that the very act of declining to affirm a child's stated gender identity should remain on the table as a form of abuse under Texas law.

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