State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat running for the Texas Senate, is facing renewed scrutiny over his participation in a 2021 Taylor PRIDE event that featured an 11-year-old drag performer. The controversy has resurfaced in the final stretch of his campaign against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, drawing significant attention to Talarico’s social positions and legislative record. The Washington Free Beacon recently published a report that brought the three-year-old event back into public discourse, fueling criticism from Republican opponents.
"We produce some of the best drag performers in the nation. We didn’t want to hurt them." James Talarico, Texas State Representative
The event, organized by Taylor PRIDE, took place on June 26, 2021, in Taylor, a town northeast of Austin. Billed as a fundraiser for “rural LGBTQ communities,” the festival promised a diverse lineup of speakers, musical guests like Venus Loves Mars, and what the organizers described as “the absolute cutest & youngest of our drag performers.” The schedule also included live music, a “drag story hour,” and performances by adult drag artists such as Brianna Brinxx and Sedonya Face. Talarico, who is also a Presbyterian seminarian, was among the scheduled speakers.
Photographs cited by the Free Beacon show Representative Talarico addressing the attendees and posing with individuals at the Texas Beer Company, one of the event’s locations. Other images from the same day depict the child performer, known as Kween Kee Kee, in a blue dress, a platinum blond wig, and heavy eye makeup during the event’s “Youth Drag Show.” Footage recorded by an attendee and posted online shows the child performing the splits, which quickly drew objections from some viewers.
Following the initial criticism in 2021, Taylor PRIDE issued a statement acknowledging that an unnamed conservative organization had “ridiculed & protested” the festival, accusing it of being “sexually explicit and exploitation of a child.” The organizers vehemently denied these charges on social media, posting photographs of Kween Kee Kee alongside several adult performers. “You tell us if that rings true,” the organizers wrote, accompanying images of Sedonya Face, Belladonna Dior, and Felecia Enspire, with a caption reading “Hot Mama” beneath Enspire’s photograph.
Beyond his involvement in the 2021 event, Representative Talarico’s broader public statements and legislative actions have also drawn Republican attention. During a Texas House hearing, he notably declared that “God is nonbinary.” In a 2022 sermon delivered at his Austin church, he referred to women as “our neighbors with a uterus.” His legislative record further contributes to the criticism he faces from conservative circles. Talarico is a member of the Texas House’s LGBTQ+ caucus and has publicly opposed Republican legislation aimed at restricting drag performances in front of children. In 2023, he was quoted saying, “We produce some of the best drag performers in the nation. We didn’t want to hurt them.” Later that year, during a podcast interview, he expressed feeling “love” for transgender children, a sentiment he shared after attending a rally at the state Capitol in support of a pro-transgender bill, which he described as “an inspiration to watch.”
Recent reports indicate that Talarico has since called his “nonbinary” remark “cringey.” The Free Beacon also reported that language accusing Republicans of trying to “bully trans children” has been removed from his campaign website. In response to these developments and his public image, Republican critics have coined a nickname for him: “Talafreako.”
Talarico has attempted to push back against the perception that he is culturally out of step with mainstream Texas values. After a 2022 video resurfaced in which he pledged to make his campaign vegan, he posted a photograph of himself wearing a Texas flag shirt and eating a large barbecue turkey leg, an image seemingly designed to connect with traditional Texas culture.
The Taylor PRIDE organization itself drew local attention again months after the 2021 festival when it sponsored a float in the city’s Christmas parade. Two adult performers who had participated in the earlier event, Felecia Enspire and Sedonya Face, rode on the float, prompting objections from some local residents regarding their presence in a community holiday event. The ongoing discussion surrounding these past events and statements underscores the cultural and political divisions at play in the current Texas Senate race.
