Texas judge temporarily restricts agencies from investigating family over gender-transitioning procedures

Texas agencies are temporarily restricted from investigating a family for providing their child with gender-transitioning procedures, a Travis County District Court judge said Wednesday. Last week, Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies, including the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to investigate gender-transitioning procedures as child abuse.

The temporary restraining order comes a day after the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of a family with a transgender child who has been treated for gender dysphoria by a licensed child specialist. The lawsuit argued Abbott's order violated the constitutional rights of transgender children and their families.

According to the lawsuit, a Child Protective Services officer notified the Texas family that they were under investigation following Abbott's directive. The officer allegedly requested access to the child's medical records, which her parents declined to give. The child's mother has been placed on leave from her job at the DFPS, where she could be fired if state agencies find her guilty.