Texas attorney general Ken Paxton calls James Talarico ‘weird’ for supporting trans kids
Ken Paxton and James Talarico (Getty Images)
The Texas attorney general responsible for halting gender-affirming care for youths at one of the US’s leading children’s hospitals has called his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, “weird” for supporting trans kids.
Ken Paxton made the comments on 26 May following his shocking Republican primary win against Senator John Cornyn.
“When asked, what do you love outside of his family and friends? His first answer was trans kids. That’s weird, and that’s a radical guy,” he said of Talarico.
He went on to mock Talarico, who is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, even further in his victory speech, according to The Advocate.
“He’s a vegan who thinks God is non-binary and that there’s actually six biological sexes,” Paxton said. “It’s hard to imagine someone more radical than that.”
Paxton’s comment appears to be a reference to a similar rant about Talarico made by Donald Trump on TruthSocial back in March.
“The Democrat running in Texas, James Talarico, turns out to be a FRAUD!” the president wrote.
“He’s got six genders, insults to Jesus, only vegan food, was wearing a mask in 2023 and 2024, and is a weak, ineffective guy who we ‘allowed’ to win prior to releasing the avalanche we had on him because, as bad as [Jasmine] Crockett was as a candidate, this guy is worse!”
According to The New Republic, Talarico has denied “all accusations of veganism”, saying: “Our campaign basically runs on barbecue these days.”
Meanwhile, the “six genders” comment appears to be from a 2021 discussion in which Talarico asked how a trans sports ban would affect intersex people.
He said at the time: “There are many more than two biological sexes – in fact, there are six.” He claimed there are six variations of the sex chromosomes. However, as per Axys, there are more.
Paxton made headlines recently for his involvement in the halting of gender-affirming care for minors at Texas Children’s Hospital in favour of setting up a so-called “detransition clinic”. The changes were the result of a “landmark” settlement with the Trump administration’s Department of Justice.
As well as stopping trans youth healthcare, the settlement also imposed a $10 million payment to the state of Texas, the termination of five doctors that previously provided gender-affirming care and the creation of the country’s “first-ever detransition clinic,” Paxton revealed on 15 May.
For its first five years, the hospital’s new clinic must provide “detransition” care to patients for free. Neither the hospital nor government officials have shared details about what treatments from the clinic will entail.
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