Democrat says trans sports bans solves nothing but gaining ‘political points’

A Texas Democrat has effortlessly dismantled Republican arguments over transgender kids playing sports, calling them a tactic to score ‘political points’.

Earlier this week, state representative James Talarico condemned the ongoing campaign by GOP lawmakers across the US to ban trans people from competitive sports, including in school and college.

Speaking with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, the 36-year-old accused politicians of trying to score “political points” by attacking the rights of a vulnerable community rather than solve issues that Americans are more concerned with.

“Instead of allowing local sports officials and school district officials to make decisions about whether trans athletes can play in a certain sport if it maintains fairness and safety – which I think is what we all want – the Republican legislature passed a bill that would ban it in every instance across every age group, even T-ball, before kids even hit puberty,” he said.

“Their goal was not to solve a problem,” Talarico added. “Their goal was to score political points off the backs of a vulnerable community.”

The Republican-led Texas legislature first passed a bill banning trans K-12 students from participating in sporting events in 2021. It later expanded this ban to college students in 2023.

Almost half of all trans youngsters (40%) aged 13-17 live in states which have laws or policies preventing them from playing sports in line with their gender. There are approximately 724,000 transgender youth living in the US today, according to the Williams Institute.

The lawfulness of these bans will be decided by the Supreme Court in a judgment later this year after trans teenager Becky Pepper-Jackson challenged a ban in West Virginia.

Representing the 15-year-old, who was 12 when the ban was implemented, is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argues the state’s anti-trans bill and those like it restrict trans teenagers’ right to be themselves.

“This is about more than school sports,” the organisation writes on its website. “Trans children deserve the same equality, dignity, and opportunities as their peers.

“Together, with a roster of sports stars, the ACLU is advocating for the freedom of all children to be able to live their authentic lives. This is more than a game.”

Speaking on the nature of trans sports bans, Talarico said he was here to have a conversation about “safety and fairness” in sports, as long as it was respectful of all parties.

“There are going to be rules where sometimes it’s not allowed. That’s actually how you solve a public policy problem,” he said.

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