Mystery Mailer to Texas Kids Echoes Talarico's Voting Record. His Campaign Ads Tell a Different Story
As early voting begins, a brochure mailed to Texas 'students' tells kids what to do if parents don't support their gender identity. Its sender is unknown. Here is how James Talarico voted on those issues, and what he says now.
A mailer is showing up in Texas mailboxes. It is addressed to the "students" in each home. It tells kids what to do if their parents don't support their gender identity, and it explains how a minor can seek emancipation.
No one has said who sent it. But its message lines up with a record James Talarico built in Austin, one his Senate campaign ads now play down.
Disclosure: A Dock Line staff family in Magnolia received one of the mailers. The photos with this story are of that mailer.
What the brochure says
The brochure is titled "Texas Trans & LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide." It comes from a "Texas Transgender Student Union."
A mailer received by a Magnolia family. Address redacted by Dock Line. Photo: Dock Line Magazine.
One section is titled "What to do if your parents don't support you." It tells readers under 18 to "find a safe adult," such as "a trusted teacher," "counselor," "friend's parent" or "therapist."
Another asks, "What if I want to be emancipated?" On hormones, it says to find an organization to help "rather than trying to find medication yourself." It also asks, "Can I go out of state for care?"
It ends: "You don't have to convince your parents." And: "Even if your family doesn't accept you as you are, groups like these are ready to become your found family."
The inside panels of the brochure. Photo: Dock Line Magazine.
Talarico's record
Whoever sent it, the brochure's message is plain: a parent's objection should not stand in the way of a child's gender identity. As a state lawmaker, Talarico took that side again and again.
In 2019, he spoke against a bill that would have said declining to acknowledge a child's gender identity is not abuse. He said that if parents "deny your child's gender identity... whether or not we label it with the term abuse, it's abusive for sure," according to video Fox News resurfaced.
The Texas House Journal shows he voted:
Against a law saying parents who refuse to affirm a child's gender are not committing child abuse (HB 1106, 2025).
Against the parental-rights law for public schools (SB 12, 2025).
Against banning gender-transition drugs and surgery for minors (SB 14, 2023).
Against requiring K-12 athletes to play on teams matching their biological sex (HB 25, 2021), and against the same rule for college athletes (SB 15, 2023).
Against defining biological sex in state law (HB 229, 2025).
Against the bathroom bill (SB 8, 2025).
Dock Line found no public statement from Talarico on emancipation for minors or on minors getting care out of state.
Then vs. now
Transition care for minors
2023: Voted against banning gender-transition drugs and surgery for minors (SB 14).
2026: "No, I don't support sex change surgeries for kids," he says in a campaign ad. He also said he would "absolutely" support a federal ban on transition surgery for minors (Washington Post).
Girls' sports
2021: "Some things are more important than perfectly fair competition in sports." He also called the bans a push for government to "police people's private parts" (Texas Tribune).
2026: He "will oppose trans athletes playing in girls' sports if it risks safety or fairness," he said on Fox News on Sept. 9 (Texas Tribune).
His allies seem to hear something different from what his ads say. The Human Rights Campaign's PAC endorsed him June 4. Days after the Fox interview, Talarico spoke at a Houston fundraiser sponsored by LGBTQ leaders, including HRC. HRC's president later said people who attended told her he had said politicians shouldn't interfere in decisions made in doctor's offices, the Post reported.
His campaign says nothing has changed. "Any assertion that James' stance has shifted is inaccurate," spokesman JT Ennis told the Post. Ads can change, but his votes in the House Journal can't.
Who sent it?
No one knows. The back of the brochure promotes the Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT, and its fall tour. TENT says the mailers "were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT," in an Oct. 17 update on its website. TENT also denied sending texts that linked to its site earlier this month, the Texas Tribune reported.
The mailer's return address is 1611 W Airport Blvd, Suite 123, Meadows Place. TENT's own listed address, on an archived copy of its website, is 11611 W. Airport Blvd., #180, the address of a UPS Store. Dock Line could not confirm whether the one-digit difference is an error.
Dock Line found no evidence tying the mailer to Talarico's campaign or to any campaign. Claims that it is a political dirty trick remain speculation.
Before you vote
Early voting began today, Oct. 19, and runs through Oct. 30, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Election Day is Nov. 3.
He voted against banning transition drugs, not just surgery, for minors. Would he support a ban on those drugs now?
His campaign says his stance hasn't shifted. So which should voters believe: the votes or the ads?
He said parents who deny a child's gender identity are "abusive for sure." He voted against a law saying those parents are not committing abuse (HB 1106). He voted against the parental-rights law for schools (SB 12).
So ask yourself: Is a vote for James Talarico a vote to give parents less say over their child's gender identity?
Check your envelope
The envelope Dock Line saw has no readable bulk-mail permit number. A permit number can identify who mailed a piece. If you got one, check the postage box and tell Dock Line what it says.
