James Talarico — the Democrat nominee for a key Texas Senate seat in November — attends a church in Austin that makes sexually explicit and gender ideology-promoting books available to children.
Books found in the St. Andrew’s catalog include “Gender Queer,” which contains illustrations of oral sex and masturbation, and “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which includes descriptions of anal rape and incest. Other titles include “This Book Is Gay,” which features a chapter on the “ins and outs of gay sex,” “The Courage to Be Queer” — in which the author claims “God is queer” — and “Trans Kids, Our Kids: Stories and Resources from the Frontlines of the Movement for Transgender Youth.”
St. Andrew’s describes its collection as a “safe haven for controversial narratives right in the heart of Texas,” saying the books allow children to find “affirmation in the books they read” and “shift our perspective, develop empathy, and see more clearly the call to justice among all people.”
The church identifies itself as a “Reproductive Freedom Congregation” — meaning, per its own linked definition, that it believes “abortion is a blessing.” It is part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The church recently held a training linked to the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest movement.
Talarico has previously said that the thing he loved most in the world was “trans children,” voted against keeping biological males out of women’s sports, and has argued that the Bible does not oppose abortion. He has also publicly claimed that “God is nonbinary” and that Jesus was a “radical feminist.”
Talarico is challenging Republican Ken Paxton for a Senate seat in a state Trump carried by 14 points in 2024. At his first speech as the official GOP nominee Tuesday night, Paxton referred to Talarico as “Six-Gender Jimmy” and “James Tala-FREAKO.” Republican Congressman Brandon Gill separately attacked Talarico over his “trans children” comments.