The American Academy of Pediatrics in 2018 issued its first policy statement on the approach, which urges parents to support the identity expressed by their child and provides guidance for treatment, including medications that delay puberty. The case’s growing public profile coincided with broadening medical acceptance of gender-affirming care - and a backlash. Georgulas custody of the children, including control of all medical decisions and the sole right “to make decisions concerning the children’s haircuts.” But it barred her from providing any puberty-blocking drugs, hormones or surgery without a court order.
“Everything that she did was on the basis of professional guidance,” said Karen Hirsch, a friend of Dr. In Texas, many social conservatives were angered at the state’s failure to pass such a law. The one measure that passed, in North Carolina, was later repealed. Opponents rallied around the notion that the bill would put women in danger by allowing men to enter women’s bathrooms, dubbing it the “bathroom ordinance.” Its defeat helped clear the way for a national conservative push to enact so-called bathroom bills aimed at transgender people.īut the bathroom effort stumbled. The deeper roots of the current fight over transgender rights in Texas can be traced to a 2015 battle in Houston over a local anti-discrimination ordinance, which would have applied to a range of protected classes, including race, age and gender identity. Because of the governor’s directive, her son, Orion, 17, who came out as transgender over the last year, decided to delay gender-affirming hormone treatment until he turns 18 this summer. “We’re kind of looking over our shoulder a little bit,” said Autumn Tupper, 43, of Frisco, Texas, a Dallas suburb. Some families have taken steps to leave the state. Children now worry that classmates or teachers could report their parents for possible abuse. Some of the same activists who defend the rights of parents in battles over school curriculum argue that, on the question of transgender treatment, children need protection from their own parents.īut for many families in Texas, the threat of an investigation by the state has introduced new fears into an already challenging set of medical decisions. Younger came in second place, qualifying for the May runoff.įor conservative activists, the legislative push has been part of a broader national struggle over social issues, including legislation in Florida to ban teaching about gender identity in schools. After the bills failed, he entered the Republican primary for an open seat in the Texas House of Representatives. Younger, 57, had testified repeatedly at the Capitol in Austin on measures to restrict transgender medical treatments.
Abbott during a hard-fought Republican primary, accusing the governor of not taking steps to “ protect our children.”īy that point, Mr. Younger, who has become an outspoken supporter of restrictive legislation on transgender issues.
Then last month, a newer player on the right, American Principles Project, took up the cause in Texas, spending more than $600,000 to run a series of highly produced ads on cable television featuring the case of Mr. Those at the center of the conservative push for new state laws include a coalition of familiar groups - the Heritage Foundation, Family Policy Alliance and Alliance Defending Freedom - that came together in the last two years. Opponents - including some large conservative organizations - argue that children are too young to decide for themselves and must be shielded from potentially life-altering treatments that have only recently gained broader acceptance among the medical community. While acknowledging some uncertainty and risk, they cite evidence that the approach can improve children’s mental health and reduce suicide. Such care can also eventually include puberty-blockers or hormone treatments, though genital surgery is not typically recommended for children. Major medical groups - along with transgender advocates - back what is known as gender-affirming care, which involves supporting a child’s gender identity and social transition, often through clothes or a name. The fight over transgender issues, waged on several fronts in recent years, has increasingly focused on medical treatments for children.