James Talarico’s Creepy 2021 Pride Event Secret Should Disqualify Him
Matt Margolis August 08, 2026 A new report just ramped up the creep factor on James Talarico (D-Tex.), and that’s saying something when you consider this is the same man who called one of his greatest loves "trans children."
Talarico headlined a 2021 Pride Month festival that featured an 11-year-old boy performing as a drag queen, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon.
Here’s what happened. Taylor PRIDE, a local nonprofit in Taylor, Texas, organized the festival on June 26, 2021, to raise money for rural LGBTQ communities. The event at Texas Beer Company featured pro-LGBTQ speakers, live music, a children's "drag story hour," and adult drag performers.
Talarico was there, too, mingling with the crowd as if this were completely appropriate.
Taylor PRIDE's own promotional material described the child performer, who used the stage name "Kween Kee Kee," as "the absolute cutest & youngest of our drag performers." A separate post announced the boy would perform a number at the venue and later host "Kee Kee Storytime," complete with pride-themed craft activities for children. Organizers billed the festival as a "party" with a "groovy musical scene" featuring Talarico speaking alongside "the absolute cutest & youngest of our drag performers Kween Kee Kee."
Gross.
Photos from the event show Talarico chatting with attendees and posing for pictures while the child performed a routine organizers billed as part of a "Youth Drag Show." One attendee even posted video of the boy doing the splits during the performance. This is the sexualization and exploitation of a child, dressed up and put on stage for adults to applaud.
An unnamed conservative group publicly accused the festival's organizers of running content that was "sexually explicit and exploitation of a child,” and that’s exactly what it is.
As PJ Media readers know, Talarico is no stranger to controversy when it comes to LGBTQ issues. He once testified at a Texas House hearing that "God is nonbinary." In a 2022 sermon at his Austin church, he referred to women as "our neighbors with a uterus."
Now, in the wonderful tradition of Democrats who realize that winning a primary is a different animal from winning a general election, since winning his senate primary in June, Talarico has tried to walk some of this back. He's called his "nonbinary God" comment "cringey" and scrubbed language accusing Republicans of trying to "bully trans children" from his campaign website.
Talarico thinks he can win in Texas by pretending he isn’t what he really is. When you approve of this kind of behavior, you’ve got some real problems. An 11-year-old boy doing splits and being sexualized on a stage as Talarico mingles with the crowd as if there’s nothing wrong with it is just sick, plain and simple. Texas voters deserve to know exactly who's asking for their trust in November.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/08/08/james-talaricos-creepy-2021-pride-event-secret-should-disqualify-him-n4955931
