Texas trans youth activists rally at state capitol building to protest anti-trans laws summer of 2022. (Photo from ACL of Texas)
Travis County Texas District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum ordered a preliminary statewide injunction March 11 to block the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from investigations of parents and families of transgender youth.
Judge Meachum had granted a temporary restraining order March 9 to block the DFPS from investigating the plaintiffs of a lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the ACLU.
The court’s ruling stops the DFPS from investigating the parents named in the lawsuit because they are working with medical professionals to provide their adolescent child with medically necessary treatment.
The plaintiffs sought this emergency relief after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive stating that providing gender-affirming care is a form of child abuse and DFPS announced they would follow the governor’s directive. The lawsuit names Abbott, DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters, and DFPS as defendants.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of an employee of DFPS with a transgender child, her husband and their transgender teen. According to the complaint, this family has had an investigator already arrive at their home. The family has filed the lawsuit anonymously.
Friday Meachum ruled there was a “substantial likelihood” that the plaintiffs challenging the law would succeed as the case plays out, ruling Abbott’s order is “beyond the scope of his authority and unconstitutional” and the plaintiffs would be harmed if it was allowed to remain in effect, journalist Alison Durkee reported for Forbes magazine.
“Judge Meachum’s ruling from the bench that the Texas policy is likely unconstitutional and may not be enforced brings a welcome measure of relief to the parents and children whose lives have been thrown into cruel upheaval by this bizarre directive. The state is almost certain to seek an immediate appeal, but Judge Meachum’s carefully reasoned opinion and detailed, thorough findings will be difficult to reverse. This is a great day for families in Texas,” Shannon Minter, the Legal Director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told the Blade in a phone call immediately after the ruling was made public.
The directive, which Abbott issued to DFPS in February, calls for “prompt and thorough investigation[s] ” into parents of children who have received gender-affirming treatment, after state Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a legal opinion equating the treatment to “child abuse.”
Dr. Megan Mooney, a licensed psychologist who is considered a mandatory reporter under Texas law and cannot comply with the governor’s directive without harming her clients and violating her ethical obligations, is also a plaintiff in the suit.
“The Trevor Project is relieved that the District Court of Travis County did the right thing and recognized the unlawfulness of the governor’s politically-motivated directive,” said Sam Ames, Director of Advocacy & Government Affairs for The Trevor Project. “While we hope Texas families can rest easier tonight, this fight is not over. No loving parent or ethical doctor should live in fear of doing the right thing by the transgender or nonbinary youth they care for. We will keep fighting with a broad coalition of partners in Texas until the day these investigations are terminated for good, and every young person, no matter their gender identity, knows they are safe, supported, and loved just the way they are.”
“This is a critical victory and important first step in stopping these egregious and illegal actions from Texas officials. We are relieved for our plaintiffs and ready to keep fighting to stop the governor, commissioner, and DFPS from inflicting further harm on trans people and their families and communities across Texas,” said Chase Strangio, deputy director for trans justice with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project. “Transgender youth in Texas should be able to access lifesaving, medically necessary care with the support of their families and doctors. Attempts to cut off transgender adolescents from care will not make them any less trans but it will make them less likely to grow up at all.”
