Texas ad distorts James Talarico’s vote on gender-affirming care for children

Republicans focusing on transgender issues in competitive midterm races leveled accusations against Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, James Talarico.

“Talarico supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children,” said the ad from Texas PAC, connected to the Senate Leadership Fund. Talarico is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican.

The ad ended with an echo to the last federal election cycle.

“Radical Liberal James Talarico, for they/them, not you,” the ad said, referencing President Donald Trump’s 2024 ad that used the phrase “Kamala Harris is for they-them, not you.” 

Similar messaging has been used in midterm election ads across the country, an effort to tap into a strategy that was successful for Trump in 2024 — although experts told PolitiFact it’s unclear whether the attacks will benefit Republicans this year. 

The Senate Leadership Fund did not respond to a request for comment. 

The attack centers on a 2023 vote by Talarico, who is a state representative, against a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for children. The ad also cited Talarico saying in 2019 that it was “abusive” to deny a child’s gender identity and in March that protecting transgender Texans is something “we have to do every day.”

The claim rests on his vote against a single bill that would have prohibited surgeries and other gender-affirming healthcare for children, legislation that Talarico described as overly broad and potentially harmful to medical care for people who aren’t transgender. But the claim is misleading: We found no evidence that Talarico voted in support of any legislation that would have used taxpayer money for gender-reassignment surgery. 

When contacted for comment, Talarico’s campaign called the ad a “lie.”

“As James has said, he opposes gender reassignment surgery for minors,” said campaign spokesperson JT Ennis. 

Talarico’s 2023 vote

The ad’s claim refers to Talarico’s 2023 vote against state SB 14.

The bill, which passed, prohibits procedures that “transition a child’s biological sex as determined by the child’s sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous profiles.” 

Gender transition surgery for minors is exceedingly rare, and no medical guidelines support providing it for young children. Any medical care for transgender minors — which may include puberty blockers and hormone therapy — requires parental consent.

Talarico said he aimed to narrow the legislation’s scope.

“If you go back and check, I voted for a major amendment to limit the bill to banning surgeries for minors,” Talarico told Fox News earlier this month. 

We checked: Talarico voted for all 18 unsuccessful Democratic amendments. Talarico also requested to add a provision that would have killed the legislation if the Health and Human Services Commission determined there were “high-quality, long-term studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of” therapies, puberty blockers or surgery that helped children overcome gender dysphoria. 

Oliverson said he would not accept that amendment but would work with Talarico should that research exist, adding “but I do not believe that it will,” according to the hearing’s transcript and a video of the interaction.

Talarico was one of the 56 lawmakers who voted against the bill May 15, 2023. It passed the Texas House with 87 yeas, was approved by the state Senate 31-0 two days later and became law Sept. 1, 2023.

Talarico said he opposed the bill because it would negatively affect Texans who aren’t transgender but need hormonal therapies as part of their medical care. That turned out to be true, according to a March 2026 story by The Texas Tribune chronicling one family’s struggle for endocrinology healthcare after the bill passed.

“It’s why I try to use amendments, to narrow the focus of the bill so that it does exactly what we intend it to do,” Talarico told Fox News on Sept. 9. “It’s what I tried to do with that piece of legislation, and unfortunately, the amendment I supported was unsuccessful.”

“As a lawmaker, my job is to try to sift through everything the bill does,” Talarico told Fox News. “And sometimes there’s stuff in it that’s really harmful, and I have no choice but to oppose the bill as a whole.”

Talarico moderated his stance in June, about two weeks after he won the primary runoff. When asked on the podcast “Codgell Law Uncensored” if he was “pro sex surgery for minors,” Talarico said: “I oppose gender-reassignment surgeries for minors.” He recently said he’s in favor of a national ban on gender-reassignment surgery for minors. 

Our ruling

An ad from Texas PAC says Talarico “supported using taxpayer dollars for sex change surgeries on young children.”

In 2023, Talarico voted against Texas’ SB 14, which prohibited gender-reassignment procedures for children. He did not vote to use taxpayer money for gender-reassignment surgery. 

Talarico said he voted against the bill because it was too broad and would take healthcare away from people who are not transgender. 

We rate the claim False.