A judge in Texas granted a temporary restraining order on Friday to a plaintiff seeking to bar the state from investigating two families with children who they claim are transgender.
Travis County District Court Judge Jan Soifer sided with the parents of the children that the families are facing immediate harm from the state probes.
During the same hearing, the state’s attorney revealed that Texas has closed its child abuse case into one of the families, the Briggles.
The Daily Wire reports:
The Briggles were one of at least nine families under state investigation for allowing their child to receive medical treatment that affirmed the child’s preferred gender, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
Back in February, Governor Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Service to investigate instances of Texas children being subjected to “abusive gender-transitioning procedures.” The directive came after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a non-binding legal opinion stating that certain gender-transitioning procedures for minors constitute child abuse under Texas law.
“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton said at the time “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”
“This opinion comes after Attorney General Paxton opined in an October 2019 letter to DFPS, stating that the ‘transition’ of James Younger—the biological male son of Jeff Younger—to a ‘female’ through puberty-blocking drugs, among other things, was ‘abuse’ under at least three definitions set out in the Family Code, and that DFPS, therefore, had an independent duty to investigate,” said a press release from Paxton’s office.
“The opinion also follows Gov. Abbott’s August 2021 letter to DFPS requesting a determination of ‘whether genital mutilation of a child for purposes of gender transitioning through reassignment surgery constitutes child abuse,'” the press release continued. “The Commissioner of DFPS replied that ‘genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery is child abuse.'”
The Briggles and two other families filed suit to block the child abuse investigations that the state opened against them. That suit was filed in court on Wednesday in Travis County. They are the only family that has not filed their case using a pseudonym; other families in the suit are using the names ‘Roe’ and ‘Voe.’
All three of the families have children they have permitted to transition from biological females to appear as males.
In their suit, the Voes said that their child took a bottle of aspirin in an attempted suicide the day that Abbott’s order was issued. Later, the Voes said they sought psychiatric help from a hospital for their child.
“Giving hormones or pubertal blockers can constitute child abuse,” Assistant Attorney General Courtney Corbello said during Friday’s hearing.
“Is that true when the treatment is considered standard protocol and supported by every major medical organization in the United States?” the judge responded.
In May, Amber Briggle accused Abbott of engaging in election politics by ordering investigations into her family.
“This has been political since day one,” she told The Dallas Morning News. “They’re not going to close [our case] unless they’re forced to by the courts.”
The Daily Wire adds:
The Briggles were recently treated to a home-cooked Mother’s Day dinner by Beto O’Rourke, who is running against Abbott for Texas governor. The Democratic candidate came to the house with groceries to make burgers, broccoli, and potatoes.
The temporary restraining order granted Friday to the families applies to all members of LGBT advocacy group PFLAG, according to the families’ attorneys. PFLAG has more than 600 members in Texas. Lambda Legal, as well as the ACLU of Texas, are representing the families.
“Every one of these children and every one of these parents have experienced the fear, have experienced the harm,” Lambda Legal attorney Paul Castillo noted during the hearing.
It’s unclear whether the state will appeal Soifer’s ruling.
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