The church where Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico once gave sermons as a seminary student keeps a library stocked with books containing illustrations of sexual acts and graphic discussions of sexual violence, materials accessible to children, according to a review by The Daily Wire.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, maintains what it calls a "banned books" collection. The church's own website invites visitors to "browse our collection of banned books and see what you notice...common themes...particular experiences and identities being censored." The collection spans "from picture books to young adult novels," and the church says "children, teens, young adults, and older adults can find affirmation in the books they read."

What the church frames as affirmation, critics call something far more troubling. Just the News reported that The Daily Wire's review found materials with illustrations of oral sex and masturbation, discussions of anal rape and incest, and graphic explanations of gay sex. Not the Bee characterized the materials as "pornographic," singling out one title, This Book Is Gay, and writing that "anyone who checked out [This Book Is Gay] from this church should have their hard drive checked immediately."

Talarico's ties to St. Andrew's Presbyterian

James Talarico is not just a congregant. He gave sermons at St. Andrew's while studying at seminary. The church is his spiritual home base, and his faith has been a centerpiece of his political identity, a fact the Associated Press noted when it described his general election pivot as "a stark pivot from the more sunny, spiritual theme of Talarico's Democratic primary campaign."

That sunny, spiritual brand has drawn repeated scrutiny. Talarico has previously defended calling God "nonbinary" and told critics to take it up with the Apostle Paul. Other books in the St. Andrew's library reportedly reflect theology that "God is queer" and promote gender identity themes aimed at children.

The church has not detailed its age-appropriateness guidelines for the library. It has not explained who selected the materials or whether Talarico had any role in curating them. And the nominee himself has not publicly addressed the controversy over the collection's contents.

What is clear is the pattern. Talarico declared his love for "trans children" during a 2023 podcast appearance, and his theological and political statements have consistently pushed the boundaries of what most Texas churchgoers would recognize as mainstream Christianity.

A 'banned books' collection, or a library stocked for children?

The framing matters. Defenders of collections like St. Andrew's typically cast the issue as one of intellectual freedom and resistance to censorship. The church's website leans into that language, asking visitors to notice which "particular experiences and identities" are "being censored."

But the question parents across the country keep asking is simpler: Should children have unfiltered access to material depicting sexual acts?

That question is not unique to Austin. In Montgomery County, Maryland, parents from Islamic, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox faith traditions filed a lawsuit after the school district implemented a "Pride Storybooks" curriculum, covering themes including gender identity, drag queens, and intersexuality, for students from pre-K through eighth grade, with no opt-out provision. A district court and a divided appeals court ruled against the parents, but the Supreme Court requested a response from the school board. The parents' petition argued that "it is hard to imagine an injury more irreparable than a child's lost innocence."

The St. Andrew's case is different in form, a church library, not a public school, but the underlying tension is identical. Adults with institutional authority are placing sexually explicit material where children can reach it, then defending the practice in the language of inclusion.

The Senate race takes shape

Talarico kicked off his general election campaign this week at a dance club in Houston, drawing around 1,000 supporters. He wasted no time going on the attack, telling the crowd that his Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, is "the most corrupt politician in America."

Paxton won the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat. The general election matchup sets up a sharp contrast, not just on policy, but on the cultural fault lines that define Texas politics in 2026.

Talarico has built his brand on faith, but it is a faith that looks nothing like what fills the pews across most of Texas. He has pushed federal land leases for abortion access and called Jesus a "barefoot rabbi," language that strikes many traditional Christians as deliberately provocative rather than genuinely theological.

And the church where he honed that theology now faces pointed questions about what it considers appropriate reading for children.

Open questions that deserve answers

Several basic facts remain unresolved. No reporting has established when The Daily Wire conducted its review of the St. Andrew's library. It is unclear which specific titles beyond This Book Is Gay are part of the collection. The church has not disclosed whether the materials in question are still on the shelves or have been removed.

Most critically, Talarico has not said whether he supports the church's decision to stock these materials where children can access them. For a candidate who has made his seminary training and his faith the foundation of his political appeal, silence on this point is conspicuous.

The broader controversy around Talarico's public statements has already drawn attention from prominent figures. Pete Hegseth's pastor faced criticism after podcast comments about the Texas Democrat, and President Trump himself weighed in on Talarico's Senate primary victory.

None of that changes the core question now facing voters. A man running to represent Texas in the United States Senate preached at a church that stocks graphic sexual material in a library it markets to children. Whether he chose those books or merely worshipped alongside them, Texas voters have every right to know where he stands.

A candidate who builds his campaign on faith should expect to be judged by the company his faith keeps.