Court blocks Texas from investigating two families of transgender youth

A Texas court issued another temporary injunction against the state’s Department of Family and Protect Services (DFPS), blocking the state from investigating two more families of transgender youth receiving gender-affirming care.

The injunction will prevent the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from implementing a rule that would expand the definition of child abuse to those parents who help their transgender or gender non-conforming children receive gender-affirming care.

Travis County District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum wrote in a ruling on Friday that “there is a substantial likelihood that Plaintiffs will prevail after a trial on the merits” and argued that the trangender youth and their families would “suffer probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” should the department enforce a rule that would characterize providing gender-affirming care as child abuse.

Due to the injunction, the state is barred from investigating Mirabel Voe and her son Antonio, according to a release from Lambda Legal.

The ruling came in the lawsuit PFLAG vs. Abbott.

In the injunction, Meachum detailed injuries the plaintiffs could suffer, including “gross invasions of privacy in the home and school,” intruding in parents’ ability to make decisions, illegal child abuse investigations and “the deprivation or disruption of medically necessary care for the parents’ adolescent children.”

“We are gratified that the Court reiterated that the DFPS rule is unlawful and changed the status quo for Texas transgender youth and their families,” the legal organizations including Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Texas, and the law firm of Baker Botts LLP, said in a statement.

“The Court recognized yet again that being subjected to an unlawful and unwarranted investigation causes irreparable harm for these families who are doing nothing more than caring for and affirming their children and seeking the best course of care for them in consultation with their medical providers.”

The organizations noted, however, that the state had appealed the judge’s decision after it was made. 

A spokesperson for DFPS told The Hill they could not comment on pending litigation. 

Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed DFPS to investigate reports of transgender children receiving gender-affirming care.

An initial restraining order was issued by the Travis County District Court in June, barring the state from investigating three families who sued over the agency’s rule, and any similar investigations into PFLAG, an LGBT advocacy group.