The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU has filed a lawsuit asking a Texas State Court to block officials from investigating parents who seek medically necessary gender-affirming surgery for their children.
A report in The Guardian notes that the lawsuit, filed last week by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal, named Republican Governor Greg Abbott as a defendant, along with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and its commissioner, Jaime Masters. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a DFPS employee, her husband and her transgender child, who have chosen to remain anonymous.
According to the lawsuit, an investigator from Child Protective Services visited the family’s home to interview them on 25 February and also sought access to the child’s medical records, but their parents refused to sign the release forms. Last week, Abbott and Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney-General, sparked outrage after Abbott ordered DFPS to investigate gender-affirming surgeries and medical care, which Paxton called “child abuse”.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants’ actions have caused “terror and anxiety” among transgender youth and their families and have singled them out ”for discrimination and harassment”.
“No family should have to fear being torn apart because they are supporting their trans child,” said Adri Pérez, a policy and advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Texas.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Texas law bans transgender girls from female school sports
Substantial public interest in NZ's proposed ban on LGBTQ conversion
UK to ban under-18s from surgery to change gender
Gender non-conformity no longer described as a 'mental disorder'