In a recent interview on The Katie Miller Podcast, 23‑year‑old detransitioner Soren Aldaco recounted her attempt to attend a CNN‑hosted town hall with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on Oct. 14. Aldaco says she reached out to the event organizers weeks in advance, but only received a response the evening before, telling her she could not be placed in the room to address the candidate.
Denied a face‑to‑face conversation
“He needs to have a long‑form conversation, a real face‑to‑face with someone like me,” Aldaco told host Katie Miller. “We tried to get me in that room to talk to him about this issue and to be able to give him my message through conversation, which I think is most effective. And they actually didn’t get back to us until the evening before and said, ‘No, we can’t get you in that room,’ like ‘you can’t talk to him.'”
Talarico’s past remarks on gender and faith
During the town hall, moderator Erin Burnett fielded questions from the audience. Talarico was pressed about earlier statements in which he suggested God could be “nonbinary” and that there are six biological sexes. Republican small‑business owner Sarah Gardner asked him directly, “Do you believe that the Bible is the absolute source of truth and God’s final authoritative word, even when our culture says otherwise?” Talarico answered, “Yes,” and later described his earlier comments as “provocative” and linked them to the rhetoric of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Candidate defends his record
When asked why he made the controversial remarks, Talarico said he was reacting to what he called “Republican extremism” that sought to weaponize gender issues. He emphasized that his legislative focus has been on public education, not on gender policy, stating, “If you go back to my first session, I wanted to talk about public education, which is why I ran in the first place.” He added that critics were “clipping these things to make it sound like I’m the one talking about trans issues, when in reality it was the Republican extremists at the Capitol who were obsessed with talking about trans issues, obsessed with talking about people’s private parts. That wasn’t me. That was them that changed.”
Legal backdrop for Aldaco
Separately, the Texas Supreme Court on June 26 ruled that Aldaco had not missed the filing deadline for a lawsuit against a therapist and counseling provider, overturning a lower‑court decision that had deemed her claim time‑barred under the state’s two‑year statute of limitations for healthcare liability claims.
Responses and next steps
CNN did not return a request for comment from Fox News Digital regarding the alleged denial of Aldaco’s participation. Talarico’s campaign also did not immediately respond to inquiries about the town hall exchange.
The episode highlights ongoing tension in Texas politics over gender‑related policy, faith‑based viewpoints, and the role of media‑facilitated town halls in providing a platform for dissenting voices.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
