On a September evening in 2016, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Angela, arrived at Amber Briggle’s door in Dallas, homemade dessert in hand. The couple had traveled from the next county to have dinner.
Briggle was nervous. It’s hard to hate up closeShe said so to herself. But earlier that year, a federal judge had sided with the state’s request under Paxton’s leadership to block a federal mandate allowing transgender students like Briggle’s son to use the bathroom that matched their gender.
Briggle was contacted by a local reporter to provide her response to the ruling. Briggle was asked by the reporter if she had any questions about Paxton before she left. She had just one: Would the “Paxtons come to dinner and meet her transgender 8-year-old,” she asked. Surprised, she was surprised to find out that they accepted.
“He literally went into a bathroom with my transgender son so they could wash their hands before dinner,” Briggle recalled. “He turns around and looks and says, ‘This is nice. It’s been a while since I had kids this age.’”
Briggle asked Paxton to do more for trans children as he was leaving. The attorney general just shrugged. He didn’t make the laws, he told her. It wasn’t up to him.
Briggle has been replaying this dinner over and again in recent days. Paxton, who is up for a difficult reelection this year, issued a legal interpretation on February 18 that categorizes certain types of trans children’s gender-affirming care as child abuse. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott backed him up. Greg Abbott was with him on Wednesday. It’s unclear what these moves mean, and experts on trans issues say that no laws in Texas or other states have characterized such medical care as abuse. Although it is unlikely that transgender children would be taken from their parents, parents worry that the move sends a message that transgender kids are not welcome in Texas.
“He sits at the table, breaks bread with my children, with my family, in my loving, nonviolent, drug-free, safe and stable home, and then says that families like mine should not exist,” Briggle said. “It’s shameful.”
Paxton’s interpretation is nonbinding. As he told Briggle, attorneys general don’t have the authority to make laws. Last year, the state legislature failed to pass. Senate Bill 1646This would have made gender-affirming care child abuse. Paxton stated that Texas law supports his position. Paxton claims that children can’t consent to sterilization. This may be a confusion of the science behind reversible hormonal blockers that halt puberty until they are able make more permanent medical choices.
“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton said. “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”
Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The 19th.
Adri Pérez, policy and advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Texas, disagrees with Paxton’s interpretation of the law.
“As of today, there’s no court in Texas or the entire country that has ever found that gender-affirming care can constitute child abuse,” Pérez said.
Perez and other LGBTQ+ advocates have doubts that the opinion can be challenged in court. The real risk, they say, is that Paxton’s sentiments can fuel anti-transgender sentiment in the country, particularly aimed at youth.
LGBTQ+ advocates claim that Paxton is playing politics in the interests of transgender children and their families. Paxton is being interviewed ahead of Tuesday’s crowded Republican primary. facing securities fraud chargesA federal investigation into bribery, abuse of office and corruption. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, which polling suggests is possible, the race will be moved to a runoff in Mai.
Emmett Schelling is the executive director of Transgender Education Network of Texas. He expressed concern that the letter would send a message that trans youth are not welcome in Texas.
“Unfortunately, what we’re seeing is a voracious political appetite really doubling down on how much they’re willing to hurt trans kids in the state for the sake of their campaigning,” Schelling said.
Abbott, who is also up to reelection, is expected to avoid a second round. However, he has pledged to enforce the opinion as well as investigate parents and doctors who provide gender-affirming care for their children. It’s unclear how far Abbott will get in enforcing the opinion, given the lack of approval from the legislature as well as federal health care protections that cover transgender people.
Paxton’s 13-page opinionThis is contrary to decades of medical research and practice regarding transgender health. The American Medical Association American Psychological AssociationThe American Academy of Pediatrics supports gender-affirming healthcare for minors. Studies have shown that trans teens who receive such care are less likely be depressed or to commit suicide. A 2020 study published in Pediatrics showed that trans adults who received puberty blockers as children were less likely than their peers to have suicidal thoughts. 15 percent less likely to have suicidal thoughts.
Trans children’s rights have been repeatedly targeted in state legislatures in recent sessions. Ten statesArkansas and California have passed laws banning transgender kids playing sports in the past two years. Arkansas has also passed legislation that prohibits transgender youth from receiving recommended medical care. Arkansas bill has been temporarilyA federal court blocked the request.
Texas has been ground zero in the fight over trans kids’ rights. According to Pérez, the legislature considered 50 anti-transgender bills in 2021 alone. Eleven of these bills would have made it illegal for parents to get their children gender-affirming medical treatment. Texas passed only one anti-trans bill: a ban on transgender youth participating in sports.
Schelling asserts that strategy, politics, and policy matter. “But at the end of the day, the thing that is important to me is that for my people — children and adults — this is extraordinarily serious, and I don’t think people understand that.”
Briggle has been uncomfortably watching as panicked families like hers are happening, she said. She said that parents are telling her they are leaving the state.
“He’s just sowing more confusion, and it’s hurting parents,” Briggle said. Parents are confused: “Are their kids gonna get taken from them or not?”
