Parents of Texas Trans Kids Are Scared to Death Today

Social workers are about to start knocking on doors

Texas just declared war on transgender children and their parents. If you haven’t heard the news, it’s seriously bad. If you have heard, it’s probably worse than you think. If you or transgender family members live in Texas, you need to get informed and get prepared.

Here’s what’s happening.

Texans Attorney General Ken Paxton and Governor Gregg Abbott just issued a legal opinion and an executive order (respectively) that will send Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) social workers knocking on doors and possibly removing trans kids from loving homes for investigation of “child abuse.”

Quick details of the Texas war on transgender kids

On Monday, AG Paxton issued a legal opinion defining puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries — when medical professionals provide them to transgender minors — as violations of existing Texas child abuse laws.

| When the knocks start coming, and they will, alert LGBTQ legal advocates immediately. |

On Tuesday, Governor Abbott ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services to “conduct a prompt and thorough investigation” of any reported instances of minors undergoing “elective procedures for gender transitioning.” He called on “licensed professionals” and “members of the general public” to report parents of transgender minors to DFPS if they suspect the minors are receiving gender-affirming care. Citing mandatory reporter laws, he reminded professionals that not reporting suspicions of “child abuse” could carry criminal and licensing consequences. Mandatory reporters in Texas include teachers, clergy members, lawyers, and health care professionals.

The news isn’t all bad, and here’s why

Abbott has been trying to define gender-affirming care as child abuse since at least last year when a bill to that effect failed in the Texas Senate. The AG’s opinion can’t change Texas law and will be hotly contested in state and federal court — where no judge has ever ruled gender-affirming care is child abuse, according to Adri Pèrez of ACLU Texas.

Medical standards of care are set by professional associations, not by governors or attorneys general, so the State of Texas will face uphill court battles.

It’s worth noting that professional associations already bar gender-affirming surgeries in minors and discourage hormone therapy, which doctors will not prescribe to teens under the age of 16, but sometimes to 16 and 17-year-olds. Paxton’s legal opinion, which goes on for pages about the horrors of “surgical sterilization” and “genital mutilation” in children, is scare mongering for political points. Surgeons do not perform these procedures on children, and nobody is suggesting they should.

Temporary puberty blockers are another story, however, and could land families in investigatory trouble.

The good news here is that DFPS will not automatically bow to pressure. Christian Menefee, who represents DFPS in child abuse cases in the Houston area, said in a statement that Paxton and Abbott cannot change Texas law, vowing to defy the AG: “My office will not participate in these bad faith political games... We’ll continue to follow the laws on the books — not General Paxton’s politically motivated and legally incorrect ‘opinion.’”

LGBTQ advocates expect that DFPS officials in bigger, more liberal cities like Dallas and Austin will take similar stands, partially insulating families from “child abuse” investigations.

Here’s why the news for many families is worse than you may think

The rest of Texas is a very different story. Advocates expect Republican politicians who run smaller cities and counties to honor Paxton’s legal ruling and to enforce Abbott’s order. Many DFPS social workers will resist and attempt to follow the code of ethics of their profession, but their licensing and jobs will be at stake.

Mandatory reporters are going to file complaints about suspected “child abuse,” social workers will start knocking on doors asking if kids are getting hormones or puberty blockers.

Formal investigations will happen.

Anybody who’s ever followed child protection investigations knows how wide ranging they can become and understands that legal protections against self incrimination are not nearly as strong — for good reason — as in the criminal justice system.

Children in Texas can be removed from homes for lengthy investigation periods based on an “ordinary prudence and caution” standard, a very low legal bar. That’s why parents are scared to death today and why their fears are well grounded.

How real are their fears? If you don’t believe Republicans in rural Texas are going to try to take trans kids from their parents, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn or some swamp land in Florida you might like as investment property.

Court fights are going to be intense, of course, and we’ll all soon be reading about some of them. Paxton and Abbott will probably be ruled against many times.

But you know what we won’t be reading about? Poor families who struggle just to get by. Immigrant families who already worry about documentation. Families with trans kids of color who already have law enforcement contact on their records.

These kids don’t make good test cases, and their families may struggle to pay private lawyers. Some kids will likely end up in “the system,” fostered out or in locked facilities. Their parents will have a very hard time contesting unjust investigations.

Here’s how you can fight back

When the knocks start coming, and they will, alert LGBTQ legal advocates immediately. Whether it’s your family being investigated or somebody you know, contact Equality Texas, the Lambda Legal help desk, and the ACLU of Texas. Get them involved as fast as possible before investigations start spiraling out of control.

Brian Klosterboer, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, stresses the need to nip any investigations in the bud as quickly as possible to avert “false reporting of child abuse.” He wants families to know, “The law is clear that parents, guardians, and doctors can provide transgender youth with treatment in accordance with prevailing standards of care. Any parent or guardian who loves and supports their child and is taking them to a licensed health care provider is not engaging in child abuse.”

Don’t take this lying down

Don’t be intimidated. Know your rights. Don’t let social workers in your house unless they’re accompanied by police officers with warrants, and don’t even think you can handle this on your own. Reach out for help right away if you suspect you’re the subject of an investigation.

If you have friends with trans kids in Texas, ask them them how they’re doing. Ask if you can help. Let them know you’re there for them.

LGBTQ people all over the US are in the crosshairs today, particularly trans people, and especially children. Now is the time to stick together and fight back!

James Finn is a columnist for the LA Blade, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Queer Nation and Act Up NY, and an “agented” but unpublished novelist. Send questions, comments, and story ideas to [email protected].

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