A Texas lawsuit was filed by a transgender girl to protect her rights. It revealed that the state has already begun investigating families who provide their children with gender-affirming services.
Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) issued an order directing the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to “conduct prompt and thorough investigations of any reported instances of Texas children being subjected to abusive gender-transitioning procedures.” The order came days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a legal opinion which incorrectly claimed that gender-affirming “procedures and treatments…when performed on children, can legally constitute child abuse.”
Abbott and Paxton’s views are in direct contradiction to the medical and psychological research. Multiple studies have shown that gender-affirming therapies can be beneficial. —Life-saving and even life-saving — For transgender and nonbinary kids
Transgender and gender diverse children “who have access to gender-affirming medical care experience improvements in mental health and often show mental health comparable to their cisgender peers,” one analysis of multiple studies concluded.
Abbott’s and Paxton’s line of thinking also contradicts what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has said on the issue.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that youth who identify as transgender have access to comprehensive, gender-affirming, and developmentally appropriate health care that is provided in a safe and inclusive clinical space,” the organization wrote in March of 2021.
Bills that limit such care, the AAP added, “allow policymakers rather than pediatricians to determine the best course of care for our patients.”
The Texas parents of a transgender child filed a lawsuit. the state has already begun investigations into families’ personal lives. According to the lawsuit, DFPS officials investigated the family of one of their own employees. The employee was placed on administrative leaves last week.
Investigators came to the worker’s home on Friday and demanded the medical records of the child (named as Mary Doe in the lawsuit). The child’s parents (named as John and Jane Doe) refused to hand them over.
According to the lawsuit, investigators have only alleged one item against the family: that Mary Doe “may have been provided with medically necessary gender-affirming health care and is ‘currently transitioning from male to female.’”
The suit also contends that the actions of the governor and the attorney general have had a negative impact on Mary Doe’s well-being.
DFPS’s investigation “has caused a significant amount of stress, anxiety, and fear for the Doe family,” the lawsuit says, adding:
Mary is now traumatized by the possibility of being separated from her parents and losing access to the medical care that has allowed her to thrive. Her parents have noticed a marked change in Mary’s mood and happiness.
Abbott’s campaign against allowing transgender or nonbinary children from being able to access care would have serious consequences. Chase Strangio is a New York-based trans activist and lawyer. He suggests that far right attacks upon gender-affirming healthcare essentially amount to fearmongering.
“The majority of care prescribed to minors is nonsurgical, and no medical care is provided at all prior to puberty,” Strangio wrote about TruthoutDecember “When care is provided, sometimes in the form of medication to delay puberty or gender-affirming hormones to initiate puberty consistent with gender identity, it is done to alleviate severe symptoms of distress.”
Strangio stated that such care could save your life.
“Gender-affirming health care saved my life, and I will never stop fighting back against those who are seeking to take it away from our community,” he said.
