Ex-transgender woman says CNN town hall organizers banned her from Talarico event

Detransitioner Soren Aldaco said Monday that she tried to attend a CNN town hall with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico earlier this month, but organizers told her she could not participate the night before the event.

Aldaco, who is suing a therapist and counseling provider regarding the double mastectomy she received to resemble a man, told podcast host Katie Miller that she was hoping to question Talarico on his stance regarding so-called gender affirming care. She also went on testosterone for a time.

"He needs to have a long-form conversation, a real face-to-face with someone like me," Aldaco said, according to Fox News. "I tried to when he did the CNN town hall, where he did the 'prove me wrong' [Steven] Crowder format, engaging with constituents, right? 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. 

"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,'" she added.

The comment referred to a CNN and Jubilee Media town hall on Oct. 14, where Talarico faced questions from the audience, as well as questions from moderator Erin Burnett.

Talarico did take a question on gender affirming care from an audience member, who asked about Talarico's public support for a federal ban on gender transition surgeries for minors but not other gender affirming care such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. The Independent Women's Forum dismissed his answer as trying to "walk back most of his stances on minor sex rejecting procedures."

He also answered a question about his previous comments about God being nonbinary and using the Bible to justify his pro-choice stance on abortion and whether he viewed the Bible as the "absolute source of truth," to which he confirmed that he did view it as the absolute source of truth. 

Aldaco said Talarico needs to acknowledge the repercussions of his comments regarding gender transition policies.

"I think he is failing to acknowledge the repercussions of how he's been wrong in the past, because I know he's said, 'Well, I said there were six genders, and I was incorrect. I was misinformed,'" Aldaco said. "It's like, OK, but what are the repercussions of that? Because I tried to get in contact with you across five [legislative] bills, four years and two sessions, and you wouldn't talk to me about bills that would have even helped people who still currently identify as trans."

Talarico has dismissed his previous comments as being intentionally provocative. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.