Trans Texas Families Are Fighting The State's Gender Affirming Care Ban

Five Texas families with transgender children are suing the state to block legislation that would ban minors from having the ability to access puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

The lawsuit filed in Travis County court on Thursday also includes three medical professionals and two nationally-recognized LGBTQ organizations, PFLAG and GLMA, an association of LGBTQ and allied health professionals.

Alongside attempting to restrict this health care, Senate Bill 14, which goes into effect on September 1, would require the Texas Medical Association to revoke the licenses of physicians who provide this gender-affirming care.

Those legally representing the plaintiffs include Lambda Legal, the Transgender Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Texas, and two Texas-based law firms.

Harper Seldin, staff attorney with ACLU LGBTQ+ & HIV Project, said the legislation violates the Texas constitution and parental and health care providers’ rights and discriminates against the children involved.

“SB 14 is an active threat to the well-being of thousands of families across the state who have already had their lives uprooted by the dangerous and extreme policies targeting them and their transgender youth,” he said. “We won’t rest until this law is defeated and Texas is a safe place to raise every family.”

Parents of the transgender youth who are listed under pseudonyms in the suit – all between the ages of nine and 16 – have to consider whether they will need to relocate to provide what they consider necessary health care for their children.

Mary Moe, the mother of nine-year-old Maeve Moe, said she plans to move with Maeve and their other child while her husband will stay behind in Texas to continue working. This is likely to be the reality for many families in the state if the court does not block SB 14.

According to Seldin, other trial courts have ruled similar bans unconstitutional and discriminatory. Litigants will request a hearing for a temporary injunction while awaiting legal proceedings.

Texas joins over a dozen states that filed legislation to effectively ban minors from accessing gender-affirming care, despite healthcare organizations such as The American Medical Association, The American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics all providing evidence-based research to back support of these medically-safe treatments.

Despite claims of those who oppose minors’ use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for transition-related purposes that these medications are unsafe, children who are intersex (who have genitals, chromosomes or reproductive organs that don’t fit into a male/female sex binary) and have genetic disorders or conditions are exempt from this ban.