DALLAS — Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico on Wednesday said he opposed transgender student-athletes competing in girls’ sports “if it endangers safety or fairness,” reversing course on previous positions he took while in the Texas House opposing restrictions on trans athletes.
Ah yes sports, the notoriously “fair” activity sports.
The entire idea of sports is against safety and fairness. Might as well stay in a padded room all your life.
And now he will be purity tested out of existence, lettin paxton win. I bet he helps the trans community.
That’s not how this works. The way it works is that the Democrats triangulate to make their position more palatable to racists, homophobes, and Christian nationalists and then they lose their base who knows better than the candidates that the far right will never vote for a D and triangulating just continues to repeat dangerous lies that the extreme right use to justify their violence. We need more full-voiced opposition to the right with strategic approaches to the middle, not tactical capitulation that reveals just how hollow and weak the candidates who claim allyship are.
I bet you Talarico is in favor of weight classes in boxing. Does that mean he goes around saying “I am opposed to fat people in sports when it effects safety and fairness”. No. Because it’s not a political issue. It’s a technical and professional one that’s already being addressed and he doesn’t need to go in and make fat people unsafe by saying he opposes them and thinks they are unsafe and are unfair.
Yes don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. No one is perfect. I agree with Talarico on 90%+. Paxton less than 10.
This is fresh betrayal, after the primaries so we’re stuck with him.
Well, it’s not betrayal for you.
I’ve seen people elsewhere handwave this as “playing politics” since it’s Texas and all, but there are ways to cede ground to people you’re trying to sway without completely fucking throwing an entire marginalized community under the bus once again. Yeah, using flowery wishy-washy language provides a convenient out if you put all of the weight on the word “if” but reading between the lines shows that we’re just a political playing chip on the best of days and that you also just want us dead all the same on the worst of days.
Politicians gonna pol.
But they don’t have to like this.
I wonder if it’s the same fairness issue that forbids women to compete with men on the shooting range for outperforming the latter
Surprise! DNC sells out another minority.
In pretty much every case there is no risk to safety or fairness. The best the right can come up with is anecdotes.
Man, I was already holding my nose voting for him in the primary because I didn’t think texas voters would go for Crockett, a black woman, in the general. We had already lost a close battle to replace Cruz in the last general election of a texas senator and i did not want a repeat.
This is truly disappointing, I’ll definitely going to be writing a letter of disappointment to his campaign, not that that does squat.
This is not a government issue. NCAA, WNBA, Tennis federation, IOC decide on their own. School boards can decide without governor/senate input.
James Talarico could’ve literally said nothing about transgender issues and focused on economic, the current failed systems, lack of safety nets. Hostile sentiments towards Trans Americans are already fairly high, this dumb fucker didn’t have to add fuel to the fire. It didn’t occur to him to direct energy towards things that matter: Dismantling the federally protected and elected ring of pedophiles, billionaires, and corporations that are working together towards a very nasty purpose. You know, that major goal using Project 2025 as a template to dismantle democracy; to make working class people have no choice but work, keep us scared, desperate, and sick. They might not win it since there are more of us than them, but, we still need to stand up to these chuds.
The real answer should have that, of the 345 million Americans that are are facing homelessness, water shortages, diminishing crop yields, runaway inflation, countless consumer scams, souring gas prices, collapsing education systems and infrastructure, this is an issue that affects maybe a dozen people.
Democratic candidates need to stop bending the knee to fascism for votes and instead attract voters by pointing out all of the horrible economic and foreign policy decisions the Republicans have enabled Trump to implement.
this is fascism? seems like a bit of a leap
or are you trying to get people to not vote for dems over this one issue
foolish that’s how you got trump remember
This one issue of ‘let’s kill you and your friends.’ Sure lemme just go ahead and ignore that.
Every fascist needs scapegoats to blame societal problems on; transgender people are often chosen as scapegoats by modern Western far-right parties. Every weasel word used in place of ‘fascist’ serves to normalize the degradation of society with the racism, xenophobia, and bigotry that are hallmarks of the far-right.
Of course the Democrats should be the ones to hold the House and Senate after the midterms if possible to turn Trump into as much of a lame duck as possible, but Democratic candidates should not stoop to the level of Republicans on civil rights issues merely to attain a handful of additional bigoted voters.
transgender people are often chosen as scapegoats by modern Western far-right parties.
Not even just modern unless you use a broad definition of modern that include’s Nazis in Germany in the leadup to WWII+Holocaust.
Especially since this won’t pick up a single republican vote. Talarico did this for no gain whatsoever.
Unfortunately that’s clearly not enough.
So, how many times do they need to back the bus over vulnerable minorities after throwing them under there?
If it risks safety or fairness
Ah, the classic meaningless political statement.
Which is basically never. He’s trying to walk the fence and appeal to everyone.
Just going to get dogpiled by Matt Walsh types screaming “What is a Woman?!” from the cheap seats.
Dignifying this “issue” with any stance is the wrong move. Why is this what we’re debating when the country is being destroyed by pedophiles and billionaires?
Dignifying this “issue” with any stance is the wrong move.
Can’t have trans people thinking anyone is in their corner.
You can show your support for trans people while also not deigning to debate a super-specific issue that affects so few people that the only point in debating it is to drive a wedge between people that should otherwise be united against a greater common enemy
Then he shouldn’t have taken a position. At least Harris kept embarrassed silence for ever having acted like trans people are human. Talarico ceded ground, and did so after the primary. Even Fetterman waited until after the election.
Because it keeps us occupied and out of the way.
Fence riders get splinters in their asses.
