PFLAG Sues Texas AG Ken Paxton Over Information Requested About Texas Trans Families

Update noon 3-2-2024:

On Friday, Travis County District Court Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel temporarily blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to collect information related to assistance Texas families with transgender children and adolescents received from PFLAG National.

In Hexsel’s order, she said Paxton’s request would be a “gross invasion” of privacy and harm the national advocacy group and its members. The attorney general’s office can dispute the district court judge’s ruling at an upcoming hearing in the case scheduled for Monday, March 25.

This comes just one day after PFLAG sued the office over civil investigative demands sent to the organization in early February.

The groups who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the advocacy organization issued the following statement in response to Hexsel’s ruling:

“We’re grateful that the Court saw the Attorney General’s Office’s intrusive demands posed for PFLAG National and its Texas members — and is protecting them from having to respond while we continue to litigate the legality of the office’s request. We now will return to court to seek an extended and ultimately permanent block so that PFLAG can continue supporting its Texas members with transgender youth in doing what all loving parents do: supporting and caring for their children.”

Original Story

PFLAG National, a LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton after receiving a request to turn over information regarding the work that the group does to assist families with transgender children and adolescents.

According to the lawsuit filed in Travis County District Court on Wednesday, the Texas Attorney General’s Office sent a civil investigative demand earlier this month asking for documents and communications between the organization and these families — including materials that would unveil the identities of those mentioned.

Attorneys with the ACLU, ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center are requesting a temporary restraining order against the attorney general’s investigative demands. They argue that the office is acting outside its authority to disrupt the discovery process in separate ongoing litigation and undermine PFLAG and the group’s members’ right to free speech, association and unconstitutional searches or seizures.

In a press release responding to the suit on Thursday, Paxton said the request is part of an investigation into whether gender-affirming care providers are violating laws such as committing insurance fraud by prescribing hormones for medical diagnoses not related to transitioning as a way to override new state law.

The attorney general is accusing PFLAG of hiding information about transgender minors receiving treatment for gender dysphoria, which would go against Senate Bill 14, which effectively bans access to this form of care for children and adolescents.

The law that went into effect last year in September also threatens the medical licenses of healthcare professionals providing it. SB 14 blocks state funds from going toward health insurance plans or Medicaid covering it and any healthcare facility administering it.

Paxton doubled down, adding that statements made by PFLAG CEO Brian Bond appeared to admit that the organization had information about those seeking to continue to receive gender-affirming care. The attorney general referred to the advocacy group consulting with individuals about contingency plans and alternative avenues to maintain care in Texas.

Although Paxton made claims regarding insurance fraud, his initial request on Friday, February 9, states that the agency was investigating PFLAG over allegations of not abiding by Texas’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

The investigative demand also asks for all correspondence with healthcare facilities in and out of the state, including Seattle Children’s Hospital, QueerMed (a telehealth clinic), Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, QueerDoc and Plume Health (two telehealth clinics).

The LGBTQ+ advocacy group is involved in two outside ongoing legal battles related to gender-affirming care. One is a lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott, The Department of Family and Protective Services and DFPS Commissioner Jaime Masters. Abbott issued a directive that stated that treatment for gender dysphoria should be considered a form of child abuse and the department issued a new law to investigate families with transgender children and adolescents.

The investigations of the families included in the lawsuit and other PFLAG members were stopped by the Texas Court of Appeals orders preventing the department and Masters from carrying them out. The state is appealing previous injunctions that would’ve halted the investigations. However, the court of appeals order remains in effect for now.

The second is a lawsuit against the state to reverse Senate Bill 14. The law is in effect after several attempts to block it. The organization is awaiting a judgment by the Supreme Court of Texas.