Texas judge blocks child-abuse investigations into transgender care
AUSTIN, Texas āĀ AĀ Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday that prohibits state child-abuse investigations into a group of families that are allowing doctors to prescribe gender-affirming medical care to their transgender adolescents.
State District Judge Jan Soifer of Travis County halted investigations for 14 days before the next step, a hearingĀ on whether a longer-lasting injunction should be issued against the state Department of Family and Protective Services.
Soifer’s order came in response to a lawsuit filedĀ WednesdayĀ on behalf ofĀ PFLAG, a group founded in 1973, and three Texas families with transgender children. PFLAG has claimed to be the first and largest advocacy organization for LGBTQ people and their families with more than 250,000 members.
Under the terms of the judge’sĀ order, investigations into the three families must stop, and other families can halt investigations by notifying Child Protective Services that they are members ofĀ PFLAG, according to Lambda Legal andĀ the ACLU of Texas, which filed the lawsuit.Ā
“PFLAG is a membership organization with a large presence in Texas and the issues involved are particularly germane to its mission to support the parents and families of LGBTQ youth,” Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, at attorney for Lambda Legal, said in a statement to USA TODAY.
PFLAG has 17 chaptersĀ in Texas, according to the organization.
āWe are relieved that āĀ at least for now āĀ the threat of a child abuse investigation is no longer hanging over the heads of PFLAG families here in Texas,ā Paul Castillo, Lambda Legal senior counsel, said in a statement.
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The lawsuit challenges aĀ February directive from Gov. Greg AbbottĀ that ordered the state’s child-welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-affirming medical care as child abuse.
The challenge followed an earlier lawsuit that resulted in a differentĀ Travis CountyĀ judge issuing an injunctionĀ blocking the abuse investigations. However, an appeal by the state resulted in aĀ split decision by the Texas Supreme Court, which, last month, kept the injunction in place only for the one family that sued but allowed other investigations to resume if child welfare investigators are presented with a case allegingĀ actual child abuse, notĀ Attorney General Ken Paxton’sĀ opinion regardingĀ child abuse.
In anĀ opinionĀ siding with the majority of the court, Senior Justice DebraĀ Lehrmann saidĀ Texas Department of Family and Protective ServicesĀ rules prohibitĀ the departmentĀ from investigatingĀ reports where the “only grounds” for the purported abuseĀ are facilitation or provision of gender-affirming medical treatment.
The Texas Supreme Court decision showed justices oppose enforcement of theĀ directive from Abbott and Paxton, said Stephen Sheppard,Ā former dean of St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio.
“Every member of the Texas Supreme Court has demonstrated a very intense scrutiny of the procedure sought by the Texas Attorney General,” Sheppard said.Ā “None of them seem happy with the Texas Attorney General for a variety of reasons, and those reasons have generated different opinions.”
This week’s lawsuit came after child abuse investigations resumed into several families that soughtĀ medical care to help adolescents deal with gender dysphoria,Ā the distress caused when a person’s physical characteristicsĀ don’tĀ match their gender identity.
BrianĀ Bond, executive director of PFLAG National, praised Soifer for protecting the families who sued and every other Texas member of his organization.
āThat families will be protected from invasive, unnecessary and unnerving investigations by DFPS simply for helping their transgender children thrive and be themselves is a very good thing,āĀ Bond said. “However, letās be clear āĀ these investigations into loving and affirming families shouldnāt be happening in the first place.ā
Adri PĆ©rez, policy and advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Texas, also celebrated the judge’sĀ temporary restraining order.
āThis is now the sixth time in recent months a Texas court has ruled in favor of transgender youth and their loving, supportive families,ā PĆ©rez said in a statement, calling it “senseless”Ā for the state to continue “pushing forward these baseless investigations” and criticizing Paxton for “wasting state resources by filing reckless appeals in his campaign to target transgender Texans.ā
