SB14 – a horrifying bill passed by #txlege this which strips life saving medical care from trans kids in TX & penalizes their doctors – has forced some families to seek care across state lines. (Not unlike people seeking abortion care in states where it's been banned too.) 🧵 2 headlines this week make me fearful for those families who can't leave TX but have nevertheless moved heaven and earth to retain their child's prescribed, medically approved treatments:

I'm the mother of a transgender child. Last spring Greg Abbott ordered CPS to investigate parents like me for child abuse. A caseworker came to my home, interrogated my children individually & alone, & kept our investigation open for MONTHS despite no evidence of harm or abuse🧵 Our case was closed last summer. Now the state says I have no standing to sue bc "Plaintiffs have not suffered a concrete injury."

NOT SUFFERED?! There is NO taking back the trauma that was inflicted upon my family. That scar is there forever.

https://twitter.com/lmcgaughy/status/1597360480968134656?s=20&t=o_-FeeKGXckfBQcF9Bzg3w

When the CPS worker investigated us in our home this year, she ended her interrogation of me by asking me if I had any questions.

I did. Quite a few, actually. Like "How do you sleep at night" and "Show me in the Constitution where any of this is legal."

Buckle up. Angry 🧵: Instead, I looked her in the eye, steadied my shaky voice, and asked her if she knew how many kids in custody of @TexasDFPS died since 2020.

"I dont know," she said.

"At least ONE HUNDRED," I told her.

I continued:

to parents of trans kids across the country, if i can recommend one thing to work on today (besides hugging your babies harder than ever) it's to start building a "safe folder" a safe folder contains important items like your child's medical and legal records (vaccination records, court documents/passports/etc showing their legal name if it's been changed).

hey, everyone. mom of a trans kid here in TX. thanks so much for reaching out, but i have a huge, important ask (thread coming): PLEASE stop tweeting that families like mine need to flee the state. OPINIONS are not laws. @KenPaxtonTX can't invent new laws. legislatures do that, and #txlege failed in 2021 to make loving trans kids a punishable offense.

A brief civics lesson (esp for @KenPaxtonTX): State AG's don't DECLARE laws. They UPHOLD them. The #txlege tried making "care for a trans child = child abuse" a law, but failed. Therefore, caring for trans kids is NOT illegal, and Ken Paxton can fuck off.

https://twitter.com/GBBranstetter/status/1496094091058290696

Also, and this is important: I KNOW HE KNOWS THIS. I *literally* asked him when he was a dinner guest in my home if he could stop anti-trans bills. His answer = "I don't make the laws."

He KNOWS he can't do this. This is him exploiting CHILDREN to win a primary. That's it.