Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on “licensed professionals” and “members of the general public” to report the parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears the minors are receiving gender-affirming medical care.
Trans kids and their supportive parents need to be protected. This is the kind of brutal statement that - toothless as it might be legally - has real world effects that endanger lives. It’s obvious, noxious bigotry, as reckless as it is stupid.
As the New Republic points out:
Genital surgery, in almost all cases, is only available to adults. But this basic factual error is only the beginning—if also the foundation—of the problems with Paxton’s stigma-fueling decision.
The implication that parents of trans children, and the people who provide gender-affirming services, are “definitionally abusers” is horrifying. It derives from a mindset that should have no place in the 21st century, and one that is not limited to Texas.
In the face of this kind of rhetoric, I think it’s important for everyone to be vocal. Write your representatives, post on your own sites, and if you can, give to organizations doing important work on the ground. (I gave to Equality Texas and would love other suggestions.) This backwards dogma must be stopped in its tracks.
This is far more than “culture wars”, although we hear this phrase a lot. It comes down to protecting the lives of children. Trans children and their families are vulnerable, and need our support.
Share this post
I’m writing about the intersection of the internet, media, and society. Sign up to my newsletter to receive every post and a weekly digest of the most important stories from around the web.