An Update on Loe v Texas
Dear Texas PFLAGers:
As you know, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and the Transgender Law Center, along with the law firms Scott, Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, are suing the State of Texas to block SB14, the state’s recently enacted discriminatory ban on medical care for transgender youth.
PFLAG National is proud to serve as a plaintiff in this case on behalf of our members in Texas, alongside GLMA (Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality); five families from across the state with transgender children and adolescents; and Doctors Richard Ogden Roberts III, David L. Paul, and Patrick O’Malley, who treat transgender youth with gender dysphoria.
SB14 prohibits medical professionals from providing necessary and life-saving medical treatments for gender dysphoria to Texas’s transgender adolescents, strips adolescents of the medically necessary care they have already been or were planning to soon be receiving, threatens the licenses of physicians providing the established standard of care to their transgender patients, and bars the payment of state dollars, including state-funded health insurance plans and Medicaid, to any health care entity providing or facilitating that care.
Last week, on November 30th, our legal team filed a brief in the case with the Texas Supreme Court. The State will file their reply on December 22nd and oral argument is scheduled for January 30th.
As we await our next steps, a reminder that we have FAQs available about this case, which are accessible to anyone who might want more information.
If you have questions, please feel free to connect with us at [email protected], which will ensure that all of the appropriate people at PFLAG National and from our legal team are included.
Thank you again for all that you do every day for LGBTQ+ people in your community and across the country.
- Team PFLAG National
Have a legal question/concern about impacts on Texas' LGBTQ communities? Send them to [email protected]
As you know, Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and the Transgender Law Center, along with the law firms Scott, Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, are suing the State of Texas to block SB14, the state’s recently enacted discriminatory ban on medical care for transgender youth.
PFLAG National is proud to serve as a plaintiff in this case on behalf of our members in Texas, alongside GLMA (Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality); five families from across the state with transgender children and adolescents; and Doctors Richard Ogden Roberts III, David L. Paul, and Patrick O’Malley, who treat transgender youth with gender dysphoria.
SB14 prohibits medical professionals from providing necessary and life-saving medical treatments for gender dysphoria to Texas’s transgender adolescents, strips adolescents of the medically necessary care they have already been or were planning to soon be receiving, threatens the licenses of physicians providing the established standard of care to their transgender patients, and bars the payment of state dollars, including state-funded health insurance plans and Medicaid, to any health care entity providing or facilitating that care.
Last week, on November 30th, our legal team filed a brief in the case with the Texas Supreme Court. The State will file their reply on December 22nd and oral argument is scheduled for January 30th.
As we await our next steps, a reminder that we have FAQs available about this case, which are accessible to anyone who might want more information.
If you have questions, please feel free to connect with us at [email protected], which will ensure that all of the appropriate people at PFLAG National and from our legal team are included.
Thank you again for all that you do every day for LGBTQ+ people in your community and across the country.
- Team PFLAG National
Have a legal question/concern about impacts on Texas' LGBTQ communities? Send them to [email protected]
PFLAG Houston Statement on AG Paxton Opinion and Gov. Abbott Directive about Trans Youth Healthcare
PFLAG Houston firmly opposes Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s opinion and Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s directive concerning transgender youth healthcare.
PFLAG provides support, education, and advocacy to LGBTQ+ individuals, their family members, and allies. We believe that all children should be valued by society and deserve to be safe. These communications are in direct opposition to everything that PFLAG espouses. Supporting transgender children through medically necessary, gender affirming health care is the opposite of child abuse.
Every major medical association has made clear that affirming healthcare for transgender youth is medically necessary and lifesaving. The communications from the AG and Governor do nothing but stir up misinformation, confusion, and worry for families of transgender youth as well as for mandatory reporters.
Facts from the ACLU of Texas:
- The law is clear that parents, guardians, and doctors can provide transgender youth with treatment in accordance with prevailing standards of care.
- The AG opinion and the Governor’s letter are not legally binding. Neither the AG nor the Governor can change the law, and it is up to the courts to interpret Texas laws and the Constitution.
- No court in Texas or anywhere else in the country has ever found that gender affirming care can be considered child abuse.
- Texas law protects families from false reports of child abuse, and federal law protects transgender students’ privacy in schools.
- This is purely political posturing on the eve of primary elections from politicians that have proven anti-LGBTQ+ track records.
- Keep on loving and supporting your transgender kids! Research by The Trevor Project has found that gender affirming care can be lifesaving, and transgender youth who have accepting parents are less likely to attempt suicide.
- If anyone you know is in a situation of false reporting, please direct them to reach out to Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Texas. They are standing by and ready to help.
- Show your support for transgender youth and their families! Tweet, post, and shout from the rooftops that transgender children are worthy of love, belonging, and affirmation.
- Send a message to the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, urging them to follow their duty to protect Texas children by not enforcing the non-binding AG opinion or Governor letter.
- Follow the ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal for legal information and follow Equality Texas and Transgender Education Network of Texas for action steps. Support all of these organizations!
- Come to a PFLAG Houston small group meeting to get peer support. Visit our website for details.
- Donate to PFLAG Houston to help support parents and loved ones of transgender youth.
Parents and caregivers of transgender children, you are not alone. PFLAG Houston is here for you.
PFLAG Houston
March 10, 2022
Note: Please check www.Txtranskids.org for updates on the Governor's directive, legal happenings, and resources for Texas parents with trans minors.