Overview
- In a Fox News interview that aired Wednesday, James Talarico said he would oppose transgender students competing in girls’ sports “if it risks safety or fairness.”
- Talarico publicly walked back a 2021 remark about there being “six genders,” saying he had “missed the mark” and that there are two sexes with some genetic variations.
- Some reports, citing the same interview, say Talarico told a host he would vote for a national ban on sex‑change surgeries for minors, a claim that appears only in more limited coverage and has not been widely corroborated.
- Talarico’s campaign statements contrast with his 2021 legislative record, when he voted against broad Republican bills restricting trans students and said he supported narrower amendments to limit those measures.
- Republicans seized the interview to press attacks while LGBTQ groups criticized the shift for harming trans youth, and conservative outlets framed the remarks as a reversal while progressive outlets emphasized backlash and the race’s political risk.