在一场让共和党在全国关键众议院和参议院选举中遭受重创的选举之夜，共和党甚至在曾经的深红州德克萨斯州也未能如愿，其竞选策略依赖于惯用的煽动性手段：炒作跨性别者权利问题以制造恐慌。
On an election night handing Republicans a beating in critical House and Senate races across the country, the GOP fell short even in once deep-red Texas after a campaign run on a go-to outrage tactic: fearmongering over the rights of transgender people.
周二晚间，民主党在得克萨斯州（即“长角牛州”）摆脱了政治困境，民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科击败了共和党人肯·帕克斯顿——尽管这位极右翼司法部长对跨性别群体进行了不懈攻击，且其政党声称民主党将把所谓的“跨性别主义”作为一种意识形态来推行。
Democrats escaped the political wilderness in the Longhorn State on Tuesday night, when Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton — despite the far-right attorney general’s relentless attacks on the trans community and his party’s claims that Democrats would enforce so-called “transgenderism” as a kind of ideology.
这场巨大的冷门与民主党州长候选人吉娜·希诺乔萨的胜利相伴而来，她在参议院选举结果宣布塔拉里科获胜后不久，击败了共和党现任州长格雷格·阿博特。
The massive upset was paired with a victory for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, who beat Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott shortly after the Senate race was called for Talarico.
在达拉斯，帕克斯顿的选民蕾切尔·富勒告诉《拦截者》杂志，她对塔拉里科据称支持一些“牵强”的观点感到震惊，例如“赋予儿童决定权——并让父母承担后果，称那些不让孩子进行跨性别改变的父母是虐待儿童”。她的言论暗示，共和党在德克萨斯州投入的7800万美元反跨性别攻击广告正在发挥作用。但这些广告不足以帮助共和党在德克萨斯州保住权力，该州自20世纪90年代以来就没有过民主党参议员。
In Dallas, Paxton voter Rachel Fuller told The Intercept she was alarmed by what she believed was Talarico’s support for “far-fetched” ideas, like “giving children the right to decide — and making parents, calling them abusive for not letting them have transgender changes.”Her comments suggested some of the $78 million Republicans spent on anti-trans attack s in Texas were working. But they weren’t enough to help Republicans hold onto power in Texas, which hasn’t had a Democratic senator since the 1990s.
根据Puck利用AdImpact数据进行的一项分析，这些广告占帕克斯顿所有支持性广告支出的近一半。总体而言，这些广告大量散布关于塔拉里科履历的明显虚假信息。
The ads made up almost half of all ad spending in support of Paxton, according to an analysis from Puck using data from AdImpact. By and large, the ads spread blatant misinformation about Talarico’s record.
一则臭名昭著的2900万美元广告由德克萨斯州政治行动委员会制作，该委员会主要由亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克资助，广告声称塔拉里科支持监禁那些不支持为未成年人进行性别肯定手术的父母。“德克萨斯州的每一位母亲都应该担心詹姆斯·塔拉里科会把父母送进监狱，如果他们不支持为孩子进行性别过渡手术，”广告中一名女性阴森地警告道。
One infamous $29 million ad created by Texas PAC, a political action committee primarily funded by billionaire Elon Musk, claimed that Talarico supported jailing parents who did not support gender-affirming surgeries for minors. “Every mom in Texas should be worried about James Talarico putting parents in jail if they do not support surgically transitioning their children,” a woman in the ad warned ominously.
据Puck报道，该攻击截至10月已获得19亿次浏览，似乎确实引起了德克萨斯州选民的注意——即使是那些最终支持塔拉里科的选民也不例外。
That attack, which according to Puck received 1.9 billion views as of October, does seem to have caught the attention of Texans — even with voters who ultimately supported Talarico.
德克萨斯州组织项目（Texas Organizing Project）旗下针对黑人选民的“黑人TOP”（Black TOP）行动的竞选人员朱利叶斯·伊绍拉（Julius Ishola）告诉《拦截者》（The Intercept），他经常听到黑人选民表达担忧，称塔拉里科打算监禁父母。
Julius Ishola, a canvasser for Black TOP, an operation under Texas Organizing Project that targets Black voters, told The Intercept he had frequently heard Black voters raise concerns that Talarico intended to jail parents.
“我一直在收到关于詹姆斯·塔拉里科的大量负面反馈，”伊绍拉告诉《拦截者》，称许多选民提到的担忧包括“性别变更以及可能起诉那些违背这一规定的父母……以及允许跨性别者进入女厕所”。作为州立法者，塔拉里科曾反对禁止跨性别运动员参加青少年体育比赛的禁令，并曾著名地表示上帝是“非二元性别”，因此遭到共和党人的嘲讽，他们将这位参议院候选人昵称为“塔拉弗里奥”（Talafreako）。
“I’ve been getting a lot of bad feedback regarding James Talarico,” Ishola told The Intercept, saying many voters cited concerns of “gender sex change and possibly prosecuting parents who go against that … and allowing transgenders into female restrooms.”As a state legislator, Talarico fought bans on transgender athletes’ participation in youth sports, and famously said that God is “nonbinary,” earning him ridicule from Republicans, who nicknamed the Senate candidate “Talafreako.”
面对本轮选举中的这些攻击，塔拉里科似乎在这一问题上有所退缩，他在9月接受福克斯新闻（Fox News）采访时表示，他支持禁止跨性别儿童参加体育比赛，如果这会危及“安全或公平”——但并未澄清其含义。他的摇摆似乎并未触及许多选民。
In the face of those attacks this cycle, Talarico appeared to backtrack on the issue, telling Fox News in September that he supported bans on transgender children’s participation in sports if it risks “safety or fairness” — without clarifying what that meant. His wavering does not seem to have reached many voters.
“我全程投了共和党的票。这就是我对塔拉里科的担忧，”卡罗尔·比林斯（Carol Billings）说，她在达拉斯县的活水教堂（Living Waters Church）为帕克斯顿（Paxton）投票。像富勒（Fuller）一样，她将对民主党候选人跨性别政策的看法视为主要担忧来源。
“I voted Republican all the way. And that’s my fear of Talarico going in,” said Carol Billings, a voter who cast her ballot for Paxton at the Living Waters Church in Dallas County. Like Fuller, she cited her perception of the Democratic nominee’s trans policies as a major source for concern.
然而，许多黑人选区的选民——这些选区对塔拉里科的胜利至关重要——几乎未提及塔拉里科。
Still, many voters in Black districts, which were vital to Talarico’s victory, barely mentioned Talarico.
“说到底，”休斯顿民主党政治策略师达拉斯·琼斯说，他的公司专注于非裔选民参与，并支持塔拉里科，“结果表明，人们更关心自己的日常生活，而非那些只想安稳过日子的跨性别美国人。”一些选民告诉《拦截者》，他们更关心的是可负担性问题。“我只希望能把这些油价降下来，”沃思堡选民达里尔·穆尔说。
“At the end of the day,” said Dallas Jones, a Houston-based Democratic political strategist whose firm focuses on African American voter engagement and backed Talarico, “the results show that people care more about their everyday lives than they do about trans Americans who just want to get by.”Some voters told The Intercept they were far more concerned with issues of affordability. “ I just hope we can get these gas prices down,” said Darryl Moore, a Fort Worth voter.