Saturday, March 12, 2022
Parents Providing Gender-Affirming Care to Their Children May Face Child Abuse Investigations
From The Texas Tribune:
Since Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state's child welfare agency to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their children, parents of trans kids are seeking help. In Texas, this could be a child abuse case.
Parents of trans kids are trying to figure out how to explain all this to their kids, who they’ve tried their best to keep insulated from the growing anti-trans backlash. Even though they have no reason to believe that they’re going to be investigated, the family has started speaking with a lawyer who specializes in LGBTQ family law.
The Texas Tribune talked to seven families with transgender children who have proactively hired lawyers as a result of this directive. None were willing to give their names, fearing that someone might report them if their identity became known. Lawyers said that the number of families reaching out in fear of potential investigations is unlike anything they've ever seen.
Read more here.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/family_law/2022/03/parents-providing-gender-affirming-care-to-their-children-may-face-child-abuse-investigations.html
A Texas state district judge on Friday temporarily blocked a directive by Gov. Greg Abbott to have state authorities investigate gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth as child abuse.
The ruling by District Judge Amy Clark Meachum in Travis County came after Abbott's order led to the investigation of a state employee's family after their daughter received such care, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal to sue over the directive.
Meachum said the plaintiffs would likely succeed after a trial on the merits of the case and ordered that hearing to begin in July. Meachum said the directive exceeded Abbott's authority under the Texas Constitution and the type of care it targeted never triggered an investigation prior to the directive.
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1086039378/texas-transgender-investigations-blocked
Posted by: Jeff Rasley | Mar 13, 2022 7:48:16 AM