Texas judge halts child abuse investigations into transgender youth

A Texas district court judge on Friday temporarily halted all child abuse investigations into gender-affirming care for trans minors after a daylong hearing that pitted the mother of a transgender teenager against the state’s lawyers. District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum read the temporary injunction from the bench late in the afternoon. She said it blocks the state’s new directive defining certain gender-affirming medical care as child abuse, and halts any such investigations until after a trial in the case set to begin in July. Just before 9 p.m., however, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted that he had filed an appeal that put the judge’s injunction on hold. Paxton said his appeal would allow “much-needed investigations [to] proceed as they should.”

On Saturday, lawyers for the plaintiffs called Paxton’s appeal “baseless” and said they’d fight to ensure the injunction halting investigations remains in place. “As we know, Attorney General Paxton has a troubled history following the law,” Paul Castillo with Lambda Legal told The Dallas Morning News. Paxton is under indictment for alleged securities fraud and FBI investigation for alleged bribery. “If any family is contacted by DFPS notwithstanding the trial court’s decision they should contact Lambda Legal’s helpdesk and/or the ACLU immediately.” Identified in court by a pseudonym, Jane Doe is a state employee who says she was put on leave and investigated because her 16-year-old transgender daughter is undergoing medical treatment. She and Megan Mooney, a Houston psychologist, sued after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Department of Family and Protective Services to open abuse probes into transgender youth receiving certain treatments. After the hearing, Castillo told The News his clients and all Texas families with transgender children can “breathe a sigh of relief.” “The judge’s decision reflects the recognition that the governor and department circumvented the legislative process and started a rule that terrorized families who love, support and seek the best care for transgender children,” said Castillo, senior counsel with Lambda Legal, which along with the ACLU of Texas, is representing the plaintiffs.