ACLU, Lambda Legal steps in with lawsuit for family feeling the brunt of Texas investigation of trans children and their parents

This right here is some HEAVY bullsh!t and I am too angry to be scared. Those who are scared, please know that I am not calling you cowards. You have a right to your fear. Don't lose hope because this will not stand. Meanwhile, I've got enough rage right now for everybody. Just call me the Santa Claus of rage.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Texas governor Greg Abbott over his directive to investigate supportive parents of trans children for child abuse.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department for Family and Protective Services and Governor Greg Abbott for implementing a directive to investigate parents that provide gender-affirming care to transgender children. 

 In a Feb. 22 letter, Abbott ordered the DFPS to investigate gender-affirming care among youths in the state following an official declaration from state Attorney General Ken Paxton who also called it "child abuse." The DFPS promptly announced that it would comply with Paxton and Abbott's directive. The department told ABC affiliate KVUE there were no investigations into such alleged "child abuse" before Abbott's directive. DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters is also listed as a defendant in the complaint.

 

The lawsuit, announced by the ACLU and LGBTQ group Lambda Legal, is on behalf of a parent (who is named Jane Doe) of a trans child (who is named Mary Doe) and an employee the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services(dig the irony) . Her statement in the petition (pgs 20-24) is downright chilling.

The excerpt posted below underscores just how ugly Abbott's directive is. The fact that her daughter is trans seems to have been publicly known. But it was AFTER she asked her supervisor for clarification about the directive that her family was put under investigation and herself put on leave:

On February 23, 2022, following the issuance of the Paxton Opinion and the Abbott Letter, Jane communicated with her supervisor at DFPS to seek clarification of how the Abbott Letter would affect DFPS policy. Such clarification was important for her family as well as to her ability to perform her job at DFPS.  

That same day, and just mere hours later, Jane Doe was placed on leave from her employment because she has a transgender daughter with a medical need for treatment of gender dysphoria. The next day, on the afternoon of February 24, 2022, Plaintiff Jane Doe was informed that her family would be investigated in accordance with Governor Abbott’s letter to determine if Jane Doe and John Doe had committed abuse by affirming their transgender daughter’s identity and obtaining the medically necessary health care that she needs.

On February 25, 2022, a DFPS Child Protective Services (CPS) investigator visited the Doe family’s home to interview Jane Doe, John Doe, and Mary Doe. The CPS investigator interviewed Jane Doe and John Doe, who were accompanied by counsel, together, while he interviewed Mary Doe, who was accompanied by different counsel, apart from her parents. Aside from interviewing the Doe family, the CPS investigator sought access through releases to Mary Doe’s medical records, which the Doe Plaintiffs refused to sign.  

The CPS investigator disclosed that the sole allegation against Jane Doe and John Doe is that they have a transgender daughter and that their daughter may have been provided with medically necessary gender-affirming health care and is “currently transitioning from male to female.” 

Doe's statement further recounts how this has negatively affected her daughter and her family in general. Her daughter is now depressed, concerned that she may lose access to vital treatment and be separated from her family. Doe and her husband are also going through trauma by the fears that their daughter's health is in danger and she will be taken away from them

The issuance of the Attorney General’s opinion and Governor’s letter, along with DFPS’s implementation of these, has caused a significant amount of stress, anxiety, and fear for the Doe family. For example, Mary has been traumatized by the prospect that she could be separated from her parents and could lose access to the medical treatment that has enabled her to thrive. 

The stress has taken a noticeable toll on her, and her parents have observed how their daughter who is typically joyful and happy, is now moodier, stressed, and overwhelmed. Similarly, Jane and John are now filled anxiety and worry. Jane has been unable to sleep, worrying about what they can do and how they can keep their family intact and their daughter safe and healthy. 

This was so unnecessary and so evil. And what's worse is the fact that this is only one family we are hearing about. There are so many other families, so many other children who are in similar or worse circumstances. And why? Because of a bunch of bloodsucking, power-hungry, money-hungry, pseudo-religious, hateful fools having designated these kids and their parents as collateral damage.

This isn't a situation of mistakes and misintentions. This was a deliberate result of a gigantic campaign of misinformation fueled by a greedy desire to win public offices, sell books, get hits on podcasts, garner high ratings, or manipulate society into some bullshit image conjured up by an inflated sense of religious power or self-esteem.

And what's happening in Texas is just one facet of a quiet but steady war on Americans because they are LGBTQ by other groups of Americans who pervert things like religion, morality, and love into weapons of psychological violence.

It doesn't matter if it's the 'Don't Say Gay' bill in Florida or trying to take trans kids away from their parents in Texas. Or any of the other 160 bills targeting LGBTQ equality across the country. They are all connected as a war on LGBTQ Americas, especially our children.

Folks need to SAY this OPENLY and OFTEN. Starting now.