Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is facing questions after participating in a fundraiser with a top surgeon who has performed sex-change surgeries on minors, despite Talarico's claims that he does not support such procedures for children.
Talarico, a progressive Democrat and state lawmaker, is running a highly competitive race to flip a Texas Senate seat for the first time in decades. He is opposing Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton, who has been a vocal critic of sex-change surgeries for minors.
During an appearance on a podcast, Talarico stated that he opposes gender reassignment surgeries for minors, but his participation in the fundraiser with Dr. Dustin Reid, a female-to-male breast surgeon, has raised questions about his true stance.
Reid has previously operated on minors in rare cases, but has since stopped performing such surgeries in line with Texas law. His practice's website currently states that he follows the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) standards for patients under the age of 18, which recommend gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments for adolescents only under certain conditions.
The WPATH guidelines require minors receiving sex-change surgeries to be informed of the reproductive effects, including the potential loss of fertility, and for healthcare professionals to take extra care to support the adolescent's informed decision-making.
Talarico has voted against a bill banning sex-change surgeries for minors in Texas, and has also stated that the ban "infuriates" him and is one of the "most dangerous" bills passed in the state. However, he has since come out against sex-change surgeries for children.
The controversy surrounding Talarico's participation in the fundraiser has sparked a heated debate about his true stance on the issue, with critics accusing him of lying to Texans and supporting radical transvestite surgery activists.
Talarico's campaign has reaffirmed that he opposes gender reassignment surgery for minors, but his opponents have seized on the controversy, arguing that he is willing to sacrifice common sense at the altar of his extreme ideology.
The contrast between Talarico and his opponent Paxton has been highlighted, with Paxton's campaign arguing that the Democrat is out of touch with reality and willing to put ideology ahead of child safety.
The issue of sex-change surgeries for minors has become a contentious topic in the Texas Senate race, with both candidates taking strong stances on the issue.
