Detransitioner Soren Aldaco stated in a recent interview that she attempted to attend a public discussion event featuring Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico earlier this month, but organizers did not respond to her inquiry until the evening prior to the event and allegedly informed her she would not be able to participate.
During a podcast appearance, Aldaco, a 23-year-old who detransitioned and has previously alleged she was groomed online before pursuing medical treatment as a teenager, addressed her criticisms of Talarico and outlined the message she wished to convey to him.
“He needs to have a long-form conversation, a real face-to-face with someone like me. And, you know, I tried to when he did the CNN town hall, where he did the ‘prove me wrong’ [Steven] Crowder format, engaging with constituents, right? We tried to get me in that room to talk to him about this issue and to be able to give him my message through conversation, which I think is most effective. And they actually didn't get back to us until the evening before and said, 'No, we can't get you in that room,' like 'you can't talk to him,'” Aldaco recounted.
The town hall event, co-hosted by a news network and a media company, took place on October 14, with Talarico fielding questions from both the audience and a moderator.
Detransitioner's Critique and Legal Action
Aldaco elaborated on what she believes Talarico misunderstands regarding gender transition policies. She expressed that he “is failing to acknowledge the repercussions of how he's been wrong in the past,” referencing his previous statement, “Well, I said there were six genders, and I was incorrect. I was misinformed.” Aldaco questioned the implications of such statements, noting her own attempts to contact him “across five bills, four years and two sessions,” to discuss legislation that could assist individuals who currently identify as transgender.
In a separate development, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on June 26 that Aldaco had not missed the deadline to pursue her claims against a therapist and counseling provider. This decision reversed a lower court's finding that her lawsuit was “time-barred” under the state's two-year statute of limitations for healthcare liability claims.
Talarico's Past Statements and Defense
During the town hall, Talarico was questioned about previous comments he made, including referring to God as “nonbinary” and using the Bible to justify his stance on abortion. Sarah Gardner, a Republican small business owner, directly addressed Talarico on these points.
“You've said some concerning things in the past kind of related to faith and social issues. Things such as God is nonbinary, questions about how many genders there really are and your justifications using the Bible for abortion,” Gardner stated. “And so, I think that's led a lot of Christian voters to question the authenticity of your faith. And I wanted to ask you a very direct question. Do you believe that the Bible is the absolute source of truth and God's final authoritative word, even when our culture says otherwise?” she asked.
Talarico responded with a direct “Yes.” He then elaborated, saying, “And I think it's important to remember that even the early church, the disciples who actually knew Jesus of Nazareth, the early church, we often talk about as a singular body when, in reality, was more like early churches because there was a lot of disagreement, there was a lot of debate.”
He further characterized his past comments as “provocative,” drawing a comparison between his interpretation of scripture and that of another public figure. In an interview the previous week, Talarico attributed some of his controversial remarks to a need to push back against what he described as Republican extremism, particularly assertions such as God being “nonbinary” or the existence of six biological sexes, arguing these were not issues he initially sought to address in office.
“I was put in a position where I had to fight back against that extremism. So, you mentioned some of my comments on gender or on issues affecting trans people. It's not like I ran for the legislature to talk about these things. Again, if you go back to my first session, I wanted to talk about public education, which is why I ran in the first place,” he explained, highlighting his original campaign priorities.
He concluded by stating, “It's kind of ironic that they're clipping these things to make it sound like I'm the one who was talking about this when, in reality, it was the Republican extremists at the Capitol who were obsessed with talking about trans issues, obsessed with talking about people's private parts. That wasn't me. That was them that changed.”