Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was challenged at a private Houston fundraiser over comments he made supporting a national ban on gender-related surgery for minors and opposing transgender participation in girls’ sports where safety or fairness could be affected. He said his remarks had lacked context because the Fox News interview was cut short, while maintaining that sports decisions should be made by local officials and institutions.

About 100 people attended the event, hosted by local organisers and LGBTQ+ groups, including the Human Rights Campaign. Talarico cited his previous opposition to bans on transgender athletes in school sports and his record supporting LGBTQ+ rights; attendees and the Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus representative who questioned him said they were satisfied with his explanation. His comments came after he said he had previously “missed the mark” on gender issues and revised earlier statements about sex and gender, while LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Texas criticised his Fox News position.