Congregated in a parking lot across the street from the Governor’s Mansion in Austin,...
Martha Newsome was sitting in a service at Friends Congregational Church in College Station when her pastor mentioned a rally going on later that day in support of transgender youth whose parents have been targeted by a new state policy criminalizing gender-affirming care.
Newsome was one of hundreds to gather in the capital city Sunday to show their support for the youth, just days after a state district judge temporarily blocked Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive that designated parents who allow access to treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones as potential child abusers.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are a psychologist who says complying with the order would violate her professional code of ethics and a family under investigation by Child Protective Services for giving care to their transgender 16-year-old daughter — one of at least nine new investigations of gender-affirming care since Abbott’s directive.
Paxton’s opinion followed multiple failed attempts by Republican state lawmakers in the GOP-led Legislature to pass measures that would punish parents and health care providers who support gender-affirming care. Those speeches were interspersed with recordings of anonymous Texas transgender youth talking about their experiences living in the state and dealing with policies targeting them on a regular basis, including some from Capitol testimony in recent years.
Some counterprotesters and members of InfoWars, a far-right conspiracy theory-peddling website created by Alex Jones, tried to interrupt the rally and intimidate the crowd. Host Owen Shroyer,, was among them. State troopers surrounded the group and intervened to stop some of the pushing and shoving.
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