Science educator Bill Nye endorsed Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico in September in a video promoting “Teachers for Talarico,” a group supporting the former middle school teacher’s Senate campaign.
“Greetings, Bill Nye here! I am excited to support James Talarico for the U.S. Senate,” Nye said. He praised Talarico’s background as a middle school teacher in San Antonio and encouraged Texas educators to get involved in the campaign.
Both Nye and Talarico have argued that biological sex is not strictly binary and that children can determine their own gender identity. In a 2017 video discussing sexuality and gender, Nye argued that conventional categories of male and female, gay and straight, and masculine and feminine do not fully capture human variation. He discussed differences in chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy, as well as the distinction between biological sex and gender identity.
“What makes someone male or female isn’t so clear-cut,” Nye said. He also said that “by 3 or 4, most kids identify with a gender,” that it “doesn’t always match the sex they were assigned at birth,” and that “a person’s gender identity may change over their lifetime.”
Talarico has made similar arguments during his time in the Texas Legislature. In a Texas House Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee hearing reviewed by The Daily Wire, Talarico said, “But I just want to clarify that I don’t think gender identity is something people can see differently. There’s only one person who can determine a child’s gender identity, and that’s the child.”
During a 2021 Texas House Public Education Committee hearing, Talarico argued that biological sex and gender are distinct concepts.
“We all recognize that gender and sex are different things, right?” Talarico asked.
When another participant challenged that assertion as an opinion, Talarico responded that sex was biological while gender concerned the meanings and expectations society attaches to it.
“Sex is your biological sex based on your genitalia and the decisions the doctor makes when you’re born, and then gender is everything that we attach to that as a society,” he said. “The idea that boys like blue and girls like pink, right? That’s gender because that’s something that we all kind of made up together.”
In another 2021 committee hearing, Talarico claimed that modern science recognized more than two biological sexes, saying, “In fact, there are six.” He cited variations in chromosome combinations and discussed people with intersex traits.
Talarico later walked back that statement. In a September 9 interview with Fox News, he said he had “missed the mark” with some of his past comments.
“What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there’s a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities,” Talarico said. “I obviously didn’t say it correctly. There are not six sexes, there are two.”
He reaffirmed that position when asked directly whether he believed there were two sexes.
Talarico has also argued that a parent’s refusal to acknowledge a child’s gender identity could be abusive.
During an April 2019 Texas House committee hearing concerning legislation on child custody and gender identity, Talarico opposed categorically preventing courts from considering such a refusal in abuse-related disputes.
“I think there are some folks that would think that if you deny your child’s gender identity, that’s incredibly harmful,” he said. “And whether or not we label it with the term abuse, it’s abusive for sure.”
The legislation sought to prevent courts from considering whether a parent had acknowledged or declined to acknowledge a child’s gender identity or expression when determining custody. Talarico argued that refusing to acknowledge a child’s gender identity could constitute abuse in some circumstances.
Talarico has since maintained that parents should have an important role in decisions concerning their children. His campaign previously said he supported and respected parental decisions and had sponsored legislation intended to protect parental rights.
In 2023, Talarico opposed Texas legislation restricting specified gender-transition procedures for minors. He has also faced scrutiny over past remarks supporting transgender children and criticizing Republican restrictions on transgender participation in school sports.
Talarico has qualified or revised some of his positions as he campaigns in Texas. The Washington Post reported on Friday that he had expressed conditional opposition to transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports and supported banning gender-transition surgeries for minors. Those positions differ from some of his earlier statements and legislative actions. Talarico has argued that his remarks have been misrepresented.
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