A Texas judge has temporarily blocked the state from investigating parents who obtain gender-based health care for their transgender children. Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order directing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and other state agencies to open investigations, calling the treatment “child abuse.”
District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary precautionary order by Abbott following a family with a transgender teen demanded the governor, saying the order violated the constitutional rights of transgender children and their families. The judge scheduled a trial for Abbott’s order to begin July 11, according to The Associated Press.
Since Abbott’s order came into effect, Texas’ families of transgender children have been living in fear. Nine families are already being investigated by Child Protection Services.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a legal opinion last month, just before Abbott announced his order, which said it stated the gender “procedures and treatments, when performed on children, can legally constitute abuse. children “.
“The stakes have never been so high or so real for us,” Adam Briggle, the father of a transgender teenager, told CBS News.
Adam Briggle and his wife, Amber Briggle, said CPS showed up at their home to find out if they were paying attention to their 14-year-old son’s transition.
“I was in a fetal position on the floor, grabbing the floor, because the room kept spinning,” Amber Briggle said.
In 2016, the Briggles invited Paxton and his wife to dinner at their home to talk about transgender issues. Paxton even took a picture with his son.
“They know we’re not child abusers,” said Amber Briggle. “He sat at my table and broke bread with my family, and then he says families like mine shouldn’t exist. He’s doing it, it’s a political ploy.”
Texas Children’s Hospital, the nation’s largest pediatric facility, has paused all gender-based therapy for children.
Republican State Sen. Charles Perry agrees with the intent of the directive.
“I think the data supporting this is not mature enough to make those decisions for them to understand,” he said.
Despite the judge’s ruling Friday, the future of the Briggle and the families of Texas’ nearly 14,000 transgender teens is in the air.
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