Instead of releasing details about its support for transgender children receiving gender-confirming health care, a regional LGBTQ+ advocacy group is suing the Texas Attorney General’s office.
PFLAG National claims that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is requesting “documents and communications” related to a sworn declaration the group’s CEO Brian Bond gave to a jury last year while opposing the country’s transgender youth health treatment ban.
According to Bond’s statement at the time, how many PFLAG users had prepared plans in case their child’s health care was interrupted, ranging from finding resources to moving outside of the state to finding other care inside Texas. Soon after Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a comprehensive gender-affirming treatment restriction for minors, Bond’s oath was submitted.
The solicitor general is “seeking to identify which Texas households are seeking to get gender-affirming treatment for their transgender adolescents,” according to the lawsuit.
PFLAG is requesting that Paxton’s ask be blocked by the state judge.
According to Bond, “This mean-spirited demand from the Attorney General’s Office is trivial and aggressive, which is why we want the judge to stop it,” Bond said in a statement.
Texas has a record of bringing legal action against PFLAG. In 2022, the state established a procedure for investigating parents of trans children who have received gender-affirming treatment as child abuse situations. Later that year, a judge halted any similar inquiries against PFLAG members and blocked the investigations against the parents.
PFLAG claims that the attorney general improperly uses a state consumer protection law to defend their data requests because their organization does not offer gender-affirming services, which does include a provision prohibiting deception surrounding trans medical procedures.
“The department believes you are in custody, guardianship, or control of documentary material related to the subject matter of an investigation into an actual or potential violation” of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, according to the legal investigative demand letter sent to PFLAG on February 9.
An email request for comment was not immediately returned from Paxton’s office’s director.
Texas is now one of at least 23 states that has recently instituted a ban on gender-affirming care for adolescents.
People under the age of 18 are typically required to move to another state for hormone therapy or puberty blockers or stop receiving treatment. Additionally, they forbid gender-affirming surgeries for minors, but those are incredibly uncommon for those under 18.
According to the complaint filed by the organization, Paxton’s most recent request is in response to their ongoing campaign to defend transgender children.
These requirements are “a clear and unambiguous meddling by the (Office of the Attorney General) in retaliation for PFLAG successfully standing up for its members, who include Texas transgender youth and their parents,” according to the lawsuit.
Texas has likewise requested information from at least two out-of-state health facilities that offer gender-affirming treatment since last year.
Seattle Children’s Hospital made it clear in court documents that it had received a demand in November. For the first time, the Washington state attorney general’s office invoked a 2023 law that prohibits entities from cooperating with criminal or civil investigations by authorities in other states related to gender-affirming treatment or pregnancy.
QueerMed, a Georgia-based online healthcare provider of gender-affirming care, has stated that it has received a request and will not comply. The organization claims that it doesn’t take care of patients in Texas.
