Two Texas parents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Gov. Greg Abbott over his directive to protect children from abuse and investigate instances of gender-transitioning procedures on minors.
The lawsuit came after the pair discovered they were under investigation by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services regarding their 16-year-old transgender child. Psychologist Dr. Megan Mooney joined them in the suit.
“Their actions caused terror and anxiety among transgender youth and their families across the Lone Star State and singled out transgender youth and their families for discrimination and harassment,” the suit states. “What is more, the Governor’s, Attorney General’s, and Commissioner’s actions threaten to endanger the health and well-being of transgender youth in Texas by depriving them of medically necessary care, while communicating that transgender people and their families are not welcome in Texas.”
CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS DENOUNCE TEXAS DIRECTIVE AGAINST TRANS CHILDREN, PARENTS
The mother is an employee of DFPS, naming Commissioner Jaime Masters in the suit alongside Abbott. As a result of the investigation into her family that began on Thursday, she has been placed on leave. She claims a Child Protective Services investigator said the “sole allegation against the parents” is their child’s transition.
Last week, Abbott wrote a letter to DFPS requiring “all licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse” to report it, which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently announced includes child sex-change procedures.
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Tuesday it would also file a lawsuit against the governor, calling the directive “a transparently political attack that is beyond the Governor’s legal authority.”
BREAKING: We’re suing to block the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from implementing lawless and dangerous new directives from Governor Abbott to investigate parents who work with doctors to provide their kids with medically necessary, gender-affirming care.
— ACLU (@ACLU) March 1, 2022
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The suit was filed the same day as the Texas gubernatorial primary election in which Abbott is running against seven other Republican candidates.
