Texas will resume investigations into parents who affirm their trans kids following court ruling

Texas will begin resuming investigations into parents who allow their kids to transition after a court lifted a statewide injunction against the policy.

On May 19, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) confirmed that it would continue enforcing a February 22 order from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott directing child welfare agents to conduct “prompt and thorough” investigations of trans-affirming parents. The agency has reportedly opened at least nine such probes since the mandate’s release.

“DFPS treats all reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation seriously and will continue to investigate each to the full extent of the law,” DFPS said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.

While the brief declaration does not explicitly mention the investigations, a DFPS spokesperson reportedly affirmed that the statement was issued in response to a recent ruling from the Texas Supreme Court. On May 13, judges issued a unanimous 9-0 ruling finding that a lower court judge overstepped in enjoining Abbott’s directive while a lawsuit seeking to fully overturn the policy proceeds through the court system.

DFPS reportedly declined to offer further details regarding when and how the order would begin being reinforced when contacted by the Houston Chronicle.

As the child abuse investigations resume, countless parents of trans youth across the state are likely to be targeted. One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal is a DFPS employee with a 16-year-old trans son who was suspended from her job after opposing the state’s treatment of families with trans kids. 

The Texas Supreme Court ruling, described by many as a split decision, prevented DFPS from investigating the plaintiff’s family as the case proceeds. Opponents of the order said that precedent will also allow other trans-supportive families to file for restraining orders preventing them from being investigated.

Many critics of Abbott’s order took solace in aspects of the Texas Supreme Court decision that were extremely condemnatory toward the child abuse mandate. While judges found that District Judge Amy Clark Meachum lacked the authority to halt all investigations across the state, the panel also ruled that Abbott did not have the power to enact the policy to begin with, saying the issue should have been decided by the legislature.

And although DFPS has signalled that it will follow the order, the Texas Supreme Court said it is not legally required to do so. “The Governor and the Attorney General were certainly well within their rights to state their legal and policy views on this topic, but DFPS was not compelled by law to follow them,” the court ruled.

After the ruling was issued, LGBTQ2S+ rights groups suing the policy said the decision affirmed that Abbott’s directive did not change Texas law. 

“It reaffirmed that Texas law has not changed and no mandatory reporter or DFPS employee is required to take any action based on the governor’s directive and attorney general opinion,” the ACLU, ACLU of Texas and Lambda Legal said in a joint statement last week. “By upholding the injunction, the court credited the finding that investigations based solely on the provision of medically necessary gender-affirming care cause irreparable harm.”

But even as Texas continues its anti-trans crusade, Texas trans youth and their families received some good news this month. On May 12, a court allowed doctors at Children’s Medical Center Texas to begin taking new patients after the hospital announced last November that it was dissolving its gender clinic for trans youth, known as GENder Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support (GENECIS). 

In her ruling, Judge Melissa Bellan of the Dallas County Court said that Children’s Medical Center Texas was “discriminating against patients on the basis of the patient’s gender identity” by denying care to trans kids not already enrolled in its services.

Just hours after the ruling was issued, the Texas Tribune reported that five trans youth had already signed up to begin receiving treatment at GENECIS.