PFLAG National Texas FAQ

The lawsuit names Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who issued a February 2022 directive stating that health care that is medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria should be considered a form of child abuse. The suit also names the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and its Commissioner as defendants, who followed Abbott’s directive and issued a new rule to investigate parents alleged to be providing medically necessary health care for transgender youth across Texas.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Jon L. Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović LGBTQ & HIV Project, the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, the ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal, and the law firm of Baker Botts LLP. It was filed after the Supreme Court of Texas in Doe v. Abbott ruled in May 2022 that the directive could not be enforced against the plaintiffs in that case.

PFLAG National joined this case to seek relief for its Texas chapters and hundreds of members across the state. PFLAG provides confidential peer support, education, and advocacy to LGBTQ+ people, their parents and families, and allies. With a nationwide network of hundreds of chapters, PFLAG National works with families, schools, and communities to build safety and support for transgender youth.

Also party to the suit are three Texas families with transgender teens: Mirabel Voe and her 16-year-old transgender son, Wanda Roe and her 16-year-old transgender son, and Amber and Adam Briggle and their 14-year-old transgender son. Each of these families has been unlawfully investigated by DFPS based solely on the allegation that their children were receiving care for the treatment of gender dysphoria.

On July 8, 2022, the Travis County District Court granted a temporary injunction blocking DFPS and the Commissioner from continuing to investigate the Voe and Roe families. And on September 16, 2022, the same court granted a temporary injunction on behalf of PFLAG and the Briggles blocking DFPS and the Commissioner from “investigating members of PFLAG, including but not limited to Plaintiff Families, for possible child abuse or neglect solely based on allegations that they have a minor child who is gender transitioning or alleged to be receiving or being prescribed medical treatment for gender dysphoria.”

The state is appealing these injunctions, but the Court of Appeals issued its own orders preventing DFPS from conducting investigations of these families and PFLAG members while the appeal continues. These orders are currently in effect.

PFLAG National is suing to demand that the court block state investigations of all PFLAG families in Texas who are supporting their transgender children with medically necessary care.

The Supreme Court of Texas ruled against PFLAG National, Texas families with transgender youth, three healthcare providers who treat youth with gender dysphoria, and GLMA, holding that SB14, the discriminatory and dangerous law that prohibits the provision of gender affirming medical care to minors, is constitutional under the Texas Constitution. The Court overturned a Travis County District Court ruling blocking the law, and held that the legislature was within its authority to ban this care.

In the immediate term, the Court’s decision in Loe v. Texas does not change anything regarding child abuse investigations. The injunctions that protect PFLAG members from being investigated for child abuse relating to allegations that they are providing their children with gender affirming medical care remain in place. The Court of Appeals affirmed those injunctions in March 2024. Although the State may try to use the Loe v. Texas decision as part of its defense of the child abuse directive, the injunctions remain in place until a court explicitly rules otherwise.

Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of Texas, and Transgender Law Center, along with the law firms Scott, Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, sued the State of Texas to block SB14, the state’s discriminatory ban on medical care for transgender youth.

SB14 prohibits medical professionals from providing necessary and life-saving medical treatments for gender dysphoria to Texas’s transgender adolescents, strips adolescents of the medically necessary care they have already been or were planning to soon be receiving, threatens the licenses of physicians providing the established standard of care to their transgender patients, and bars the payment of state dollars, including state-funded health insurance plans and Medicaid, to any health care entity providing or facilitating that care.

SB14 went into effect in September 2023, so this ruling does not change the current state of the law. The law prohibits certain medical treatments for adolescents for gender dysphoria. The law does not prohibit mental health treatment, such as counseling. And the law does not apply to adults over age 18.

PFLAG National was proud to serve as a plaintiff in this case on behalf of our members in Texas, alongside GLMA (Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality); five families from across the state with transgender children and adolescents; and Doctors Richard Ogden Roberts III, David L. Paul, and Patrick O’Malley, who treat transgender youth with gender dysphoria.

The original petition was filed on July 12, 2023, along with a request for a temporary injunction to put the law on hold before it could go into effect on September 1, 2023. After a two-day hearing in mid-August, the Travis County District Court issued an injunction on August 25, 2023. The State filed an appeal immediately, which, under Texas rules, automatically put the injunction on hold. Our lawyers filed an emergency motion on August 28, 2023, asking the Texas Supreme Court to reissue the injunction to restrain the State from enforcing SB14 while the Court considered the State’s appeal. Unfortunately, the Texas Supreme Court denied that request on August 31, allowing SB14 to take effect on September 1, 2023. On January 30, 3024, the Texas Supreme Court heard our case and our lawyers argued for the injunction to be put back in place. On Friday, June 28, 2024, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s injunction, leaving the law in effect.

Every person, transgender or not, does better when they can get the health care they need when they need it. PFLAG National is suing to block SB 14 and stop it from depriving transgender adolescents of access to medically necessary, evidence-based medical care.

This is a time of unprecedented attacks on our community, with 82 anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ laws passing in states around the country this year alone. There simply is not capacity at this particular moment to challenge each and every one of these laws in court because of the volume of these discriminatory laws.

This does not mean your state and your community are being left behind. There are many lawsuits happening across the country as legal advocates work strategically to fend off these attacks on transgender kids, their families, and their healthcare and ensure the best possible outcomes for everyone. The legal strategies for fighting those laws vary based on a huge number of factors, but the goal of every one of those lawsuits is to prevent and minimize the harm these kids will experience no matter the odds.

PFLAG National does not independently decide where to bring suit but, instead, works with legal advocates as they begin to consider the strategies. For more information about particular lawsuits, we encourage you to reach out to the legal advocates for further support. These include Lambda Legal, the ACLU at the national and state levels, and Transgender Law Center.

PFLAG National plays a critical role in supporting and protecting those families, regardless of whether the organization formally serves as a plaintiff in litigation in any given state.

Being a member of PFLAG National is ultimately about leading with love, for yourself, for your family, and for the LGBTQ+ community. PFLAG supports families, educates allies, and advocates for equality through a vast network of supporters, members, and chapters across the country, including 18 chapters in Texas. People who join PFLAG National enjoy the community of participating in local meetings and events, educational opportunities, Pride celebrations, workshops, panels, family programming and so much more.

PFLAG National members have joined and paid dues either to their local PFLAG chapter or directly to PFLAG National; both of these make you a member of PFLAG National.

PFLAG National is now involved in three Texas lawsuits.

The first, PFLAG v. Abbott, shields PFLAG National members from baseless child abuse investigations related to having a trans kid. If you are a dues-paying member of a local chapter in Texas, part of your dues are paid to PFLAG National, thereby making you a member of both the local chapter and PFLAG National. Your membership means that you are covered by the injunction in place.

The second, Loe v. Texas, seeks to block SB14 statewide. SB14 is currently in effect, and while being a member of PFLAG National doesn’t protect care for trans youth in PFLAG families, PFLAG National will continue to fight in court against SB14 through Loe v. Texas, .

Finally, in PFLAG v. Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas, PFLAG National is suing on behalf of itself and its members to seek relief from the Texas Attorney General’s Demands. This lawsuit argues that the Office of the Attorney General is trying to exceed its authority under Texas state law and is actively violating the constitutional rights of PFLAG National and its members. The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that nonprofit organizations’ membership lists and private member information are shielded by the First Amendment, and PFLAG National and its attorneys are doing everything we can to protect our important work and the information of all of our members.

PFLAG is for LGBTQ+ people, their parents, families, and allies. All families in Texas that include transgender loved ones in particular are encouraged to join PFLAG National, through one of two ways:

1. You can join your local chapter in Texas by paying their membership fee, part of which will come to PFLAG National and make you a member of both the national organization and your local chapter; or
2. You can join PFLAG National directly.

Visit pflag.org/become-a-member to learn more about both options and choose which is right for you. Have questions? Reach out to us at [email protected].

We are happy to work with families on a case-by-case basis to ensure they are able to become PFLAG members. Please contact us at [email protected] for support.