Texas Wants to Take Trans Kids From Their Supportive Parents. We’re Suing.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton told trans youth in Texas last week that they considered their health care to be a form of child abuse. This is dangerous, dehumanizing, and terrifying to trans youth and their supportive families. The declaration will have devastating consequences — and we are already seeing them. Abbott and Paxton, along with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, want to investigate families simply for following best practice medicine and supporting their trans kids through lifesaving, medically necessary health care. Texas political leaders lack the legal authority to enforce this declaration and separate trans youth from their families. But that hasn’t stopped investigations from starting.
That’s why we are in court asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent Texas from investigating families for supporting their trans kids and to prohibit requiring professionals who work with youth to report these families.
In addition to being outside of the scope of their authority and clearly motivated by partisan politics, this policy is wrong and is opposed by health care professionals and child welfare experts. It also isn’t isolated — while particularly extreme and cruel, Texas politicians are part of a coordinated effort to shame, dehumanize, and attack trans kids. The end result won’t be that fewer kids grow up to be trans, it will be that fewer kids grow up.
Gender-affirming care saves lives and brings joy.
Gender-affirming care saved my life. And I’m not alone. After Arkansas became the first state to pass a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth last year, our clients Dylan, Brooke, Sabrina, and Parker all told a federal court how important this care is for them. That law was blocked by the courts, and over 50 transgender adults told a federal appeals court how gender-affirming care has brought joy to their lives.
While dozens of states have proposed laws similar to what became law in Arkansas — including some like Alabama that have proposed criminal penalties for providing gender-affirming care to youth — Texas is the only state saying that providing this lifesaving care could lead to a child being removed from their family and placed in the foster care system.
No one should have to fight this hard for lifesaving care. Rather than making medical care more affordable and accessible to people who need it, Texas is adding yet another barrier, one that will land hardest on Black and Indigenous families. These Texas families are already over-policed and surveilled by the so-called child welfare system, and other governmental policing apparatuses will have the most immediate impact on them.
The guidance from Texas policymakers doesn’t match what doctors or child welfare professionals say.
Many trans youth and their families are already facing scrutiny. They fear this move will lead to more calls to child protective services about parents who are simply trying to love and support their children and keep them alive and well. There are many problems with how the child welfare system — or as some call it the family regulation system — works and this shouldn’t be added to those lists.
According to our clients, this has already begun. At least one family had a child welfare investigator show up on their doorstep last week. Reports are coming in from across the state that investigations are ramping up.
Doctors and medical and mental health associations have spoken out against these actions by Texas officials, as well as the many bills advancing across the country that would ban gender-affirming care. Child welfare professionals are also speaking out, that these actions from Abbott and Paxton do nothing to protect kids and strain the existing child welfare system.
Many trans kids and their parents already live in fear.
Many families in Texas already keep folders of their medical records and doctor recommendations with them out of concern of being reported to authorities for supporting their trans kids. Families in Texas aren’t alone — with dozens of states attacking trans youth, including some which have proposed criminalizing medical care, it is an unfortunately common practice. No one should have to pick up their family and move just to support their kid and access medical care. And while families in Texas are considering this, they are all asking where is safe for them as 39 states have introduced legislation attacking trans youth this year.
Anytime a policymaker spreads the lies and misinformation about trans people and our medical care, it’s dangerous. It tells trans people that our existence isn’t real, that we should be ashamed, and that we should be fearful. It also tells our families and communities to reject us and report us to the state — only escalating the interpersonal violence that too many trans people face.
Trans youth need you to speak up across the country.
All of these reasons and more are why we have asked courts to immediately block Texas from investigating families simply for loving and supporting their trans kids. But because these attacks aren’t limited to Texas, we need to take action around the country.
As attacks have escalated in recent years, and especially in these last few weeks, we are tired. Trans youth need you to take the fury you have over what’s happening in Texas and share it with lawmakers in every state that is trying to make it harder for trans youth to live.
Around the country we see laws that aim to make being trans shameful by in books and schools. We see laws that try to push trans youth out of schools by banning us from bathrooms and sports teams. And we see the laws trying to criminalize our medical care. It’s not by chance that we are seeing these attacks on multiple fronts at the same time — this is a coordinated, dangerous effort that is leading to an to suicide lines for youth.
If you don’t know what to say, check out this video with my friend Miss Peppermint and fellow ACLU attorney Taylor Brown. Donate to local trans-led organizations and find your local ACLU affiliate for ways to take action in your state. Share resources like so more people know their rights and how to provide support. Ask those running for office what they are going to do to protect trans youth — and tell them their answer matters to you.
We cannot allow politicians to use trans youth to score political points. We must speak up when lies and misinformation about trans youth are being spread. We must show up for trans youth today and every day.
Learn More About the Issues on This Page
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
President Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender YouthPresident Biden Must Veto Defense Bill Attacking Military Families with Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate today passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would ban coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender youth whose parents are active-duty military personnel. The American Civil Liberties Union is opposing final passage of the defense bill over the inclusion of this health care ban and calling on President Joe Biden to veto the bill. Section 708 of the NDAA would prohibit insurance coverage for “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria” such as hormone therapy and puberty-suppressant medications, which Speaker Mike Johnson says would “permanently ban transgender medical treatment for minors.” The same treatments would be covered by TRICARE for any medical purpose other than treating gender dysphoria, the clinical diagnosis for the psychological distress experienced by transgender people related to their gender identity. “By passing this bill, the House and Senate are forcing thousands of active-duty service members to choose between their careers in the military and the future of their transgender children,” said Mike Zamore, national director of policy & government affairs at the ACLU. “This unconscionable and unjustifiable attack on those families stands in direct contrast to President Joe Biden’s legacy of defending the civil rights of transgender Americans — including when few in his own party showed the courage to do so. President Biden should cement his legacy by vetoing this bill and sending it back to Congress to pass without Speaker Johnson’s last minute health care ban for servicemembers’ kids.” If signed by President Biden, this health care ban would be the first new anti-LGBTQ provision enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president since the enactment of the military’s since-repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for LGBTQ servicemembers and the since-repealed federal law barring recognition of same-sex marriages known as the Defense of Marriage Act. It is unknown how many transgender youth are currently enrolled in TRICARE or how many of those enrolled are currently receiving coverage for gender-affirming care. In one 2022 analysis, 2,500 minor patients sought care for gender dysphoria through TRICARE Prime insurance at military or civilian treatment facilities in 2017, and 900 received puberty suppressants or gender-affirming hormones. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark case brought by the ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump on behalf of three families and a medical provider challenging a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming hormonal therapies for transgender youth on the grounds the ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Montana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's LicensesMontana Court Blocks State From Refusing to Correct Sex Markers on Transgender People's Birth Certificates and Driver's Licenses
HELENA, Mont. – A Montana court has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the state of Montana from enforcing policies that bar transgender people from obtaining accurate sex designations on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses. After a prior restriction on amendments of birth certificates was struck down by the courts, in early 2024 the state of Montana enacted a new rule that categorically bars transgender Montanans from correcting the sex designation on their birth certificates. Around the same time, the Montana Department of Justice adopted a policy similarly restricting amendment of driver’s licenses. The plaintiffs challenged these policies in state district court, arguing that they violate various constitutional provisions, including the right to equal protection of the law. In a recent Montana Supreme Court decision, two justices concluded that discrimination on the basis of transgender status – as the state is engaging in here – is a form of sex discrimination that violates the Montana Constitution’s equal protection clause. The plaintiffs, two transgender women, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Montana, and Nixon Peabody LLP. Plaintiff Jessica Kalarchik, a veteran who served in the United States Army for 31 years, said: “After finally being able to live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be, I am frustrated that my birth state, Montana, wants me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male. I live my life openly as a woman, I am treated as a woman in my daily life, and there is no reason I should be forced to carry a birth certificate that incorrectly identifies me as male. Fortunately, the court agrees that this ridiculous policy should not be in effect.” “Once again the State of Montana chose to adopt a draconian policy that is clearly intended to marginalize transgender Montanans, only for that discriminatory action to be blocked by the courts,” said Akilah Deernose, executive director for the ACLU of Montana. “Here in Montana we treasure our right to privacy and to live our lives free from governmental intrusion. The State of Montana clearly has not learned any lessons from the past few years, where courts have repeatedly struck down unconstitutional laws targeting transgender Montanans.” “Forcing anyone to carry documents that contradict their identity unjustly violates their rights to privacy, equal treatment, and not being compelled to convey a government message about their sex that they disagree with,” said Malita Picasso, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Such a policy marks transgender people for further mistreatment and discrimination, essentially requiring them to carry papers that out them as transgender any time they need to provide identity documents. Fortunately, the court has refused to allow the state of Montana to subvert the freedom of transgender Montanans to control their own identity as this case goes forward.” In granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court held, “[i]f the challenged state actions discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their transgender status, they also necessarily discriminate the basis of sex.” The state has the option of appealing the district court’s ruling to the Montana Supreme Court, but the underlying case will proceed in district court. A trial has not yet been scheduled. -
FloridaDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Keohane v. DixonKeohane v. Dixon
On September 30, 2024, the Florida Department of Corrections rescinded its policy regarding treatment of gender dysphoria, which allowed for hormone therapy when deemed medically necessary, as well as access to clothing and grooming standards that accord with one’s gender identity. Under this new policy, grooming and clothing accommodations have been stripped away, and hormone therapy is not permitted unless an exception is deemed constitutionally required. The ACLU brought a class action challenging the policy. -
IdahoDec 2024
LGBTQ Rights
Robinson v. LabradorRobinson v. Labrador
Two incarcerated transgender women have sued the state of Idaho alleging that HB 688, a 2024 law barring state funding for gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, denies them access to the health care their doctors have prescribed for them and is a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. They represent a class of all incarcerated folks within the state of Idaho who face the loss of hormone therapy due to HB 668.