A video of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico calling parents who do not affirm their child’s gender identity “abusive” is now circulating widely after his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, posted it to social media.
The clip, which appears to come from an undated legislative committee hearing, shows Talarico speaking before the Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues. The committee was discussing proposed changes to Texas law around gender identity and potential harm to children. Talarico argued that withholding gender-affirming support from a child should be treated as harmful, and potentially abusive, behavior under state law.
“I think there are some folks that would think that if you deny your child’s gender identity, that that’s incredibly harmful,” Talarico said in the clip. “And whether or not we can label it with the term abuse, I mean it’s abusive for sure.” He added that he did not want non-affirming parental behavior to be ruled out as abuse, calling such an exclusion “dangerous” and potentially harmful to vulnerable children in the state.
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An unidentified committee member pressed Talarico to clarify, asking whether he was suggesting the proposed language should explicitly include a parent’s willingness or unwillingness to acknowledge a child’s stated gender, or whether it should remain silent on that question. Talarico responded by reiterating his concern about ruling out that behavior as non-abusive.
Paxton, the Trump-backed Republican running against Talarico for a U.S. Senate seat, shared the footage on his account on X. “This is absolutely DISGUSTING,” Paxton wrote. “James Talarico said parents who don’t transition their kids are ‘abusive’ and thinks they should have their kids taken from them.” You can read more about the Talarico gender identity hearing video and the political fallout it has generated.
Under current Texas law, authorities have two pathways when responding to child abuse situations. The first involves removing the alleged abuser from the home while keeping the child in place, provided the remaining household is considered safe. The second involves removing the child from the home entirely.
Child protective services in Texas can only remove a child without a court order if an immediate danger exists and there is no time to obtain one. In those cases, an emergency hearing must be held on the next business day, though a weekend intervening before that hearing could delay resolution by several days.
The practical implication of the language Talarico appeared to advocate is significant. If parents who decline to affirm a child’s stated gender identity were classified as abusive under state law, it could provide legal grounds for either removing a parent from the home or removing the child, potentially without a judge’s prior approval in urgent cases.
Talarico is running as the Democratic candidate against Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate race. Paxton has been steadily surfacing video clips of Talarico as part of his campaign against him.
