CA Alliance Responds to Texas Gender-Affirming Care Ban

Sacramento, CA – On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, following a non-binding opinion from the Texas Attorney General arguing that children were too young to consent to gender-affirming surgeries, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter to the state's child welfare agency stating that medical care like puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries were considered child abuse, as they caused "mental or emotional injury." Due to this letter, the state agency will begin looking at cases of transgender children receiving gender-affirming medical care as potential child abuse. Christine Stoner-Mertz, the CEO of The California Alliance of Child and Family Services, issued the following statement:

"This order by Texas Governor Greg Abbott is a devastating blow to the health and safety of transgender youth in Texas and across the nation. Denying young people gender-affirming care will undoubtedly cause harm and further stigmatize the transgender community, their families, and the affirming healthcare providers who work directly with queer youth.

A survey published by the Trevor Project in 2021 found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth. These heartbreaking statistics show that we continue to fail our LGBTQ2S+ youth, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas Governor's action is a giant step backwards and sends a damaging message to transgender people across the nation that they are not worthy of dignity and respect.

The California Alliance of Child and Family Services stands firm in our belief that gender-affirming care is medically necessary and life-saving for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. We strongly condemn these bad-faith attempts that are detrimental to the youth we should be supporting now more than ever."