(Washington) The Supreme Court of Texas on Friday again authorized investigations into the parents of transgender children by authorities in this conservative Southern state, overturning a court decision that had suspended these proceedings.
Posted at 4:10 p.m.
The court in March ended enforcement of a controversial directive from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that equated certain “gender reassignment” procedures for minors to criminally reprehensible “abuse”.
Photo GO NAKAMURA, archives REUTERS
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
The appeals court “abused its discretion” in issuing a statewide order, the high court ruled, in its decision seen by AFP.
On the other hand, the authorities cannot resume the investigation targeting the parents of a transgender teenager who had brought the case to justice, ruled the court, considering that this investigation would cause them “irreparable harm”.
“Today’s decision is a victory for our clients and the rule of law,” according to human rights organization ACLU, hailing a “partial” victory in a tweet.
“While this decision is limited to current plaintiffs, it is clear that the application of this decision causes suffering to young people and their families,” she added.
“These cruel attacks on transgender youth must stop,” the organization also said.
Because of this directive from Governor Abbott, the mother of a teenage transgender girl was suspended by her employer — Texas Family Services — and was visited by an inspector who was investigating whether her daughter was 16, “was not in the process of transitioning from male to female,” according to the complaint filed by the family.
The case had taken on a national dimension, to the point that US President Joe Biden had denounced in this directive a “cynical and dangerous campaign which targets transgender children and their parents”.
The care to be given to transgender minors, just like their participation in sports competitions or the use of the toilets of the sex in which they identify, is the subject of lively debate in the United States where many conservative states have adopted these recent years of restrictive regulations.