Judge blocks Texas investigation of trans teen’s parents

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The lawsuit marked the first report of parents being investigated following Abbott’s directive and an earlier nonbinding legal opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton labeling certain gender-confirmation treatments as “child abuse.” Meachum issued the order hours after attorneys for the state and for the parents appeared her via Zoom in a brief hearing. Paul Castillo with Lambda Legal, which joined the American Civil Liberties Union to file the suit, told Meachum that allowing the order to be enforced would cause “irreparable” harm to the teen’s parents and other families. Ryan Kercher, an attorney with Paxton’s office, told Meachum that the governor’s order and the earlier opinion don’t require the state to investigate every transgender child receiving gender-confirmation care. DFPS said Tuesday that it had received three reports since Abbott’s order and Paxton’s opinion, but would not say whether any resulted in investigations.