Texas attorney general threatens Austin over City Council’s effort to protect health care for transgender people

Shortly after City Council acted Thursday to protect transgender people from discriminatory health care laws, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a threatening statement, vowing to “consider every possible response to ensure compliance” with state law prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors.

Against this backdrop of escalating anti-trans rhetoric within the Republican Party, Council passed a resolution to protect the health, welfare and safety of trans and nonbinary people, as well as those who provide care or assist in facilitating gender-affirming care.

The resolution, which passed on a 10-1 vote, with Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voting no, is significant given recent developments in Texas such as the 2023 law banning gender-affirming health care for youth and Gov. Greg Abbott’s insinuation last month that trans teachers should be prohibited from wearing clothing that aligns with their gender identity.

Council Member Chito Vela sponsored the resolution and noted before the vote the dangers LGBTQIA+ people face in their daily lives. He thanked the speakers, “especially given the intimidation tactics used by some opponents (who) apparently sent armed individuals to intimidate supporters as they entered City Hall. That’s very disappointing and troubling,” he said. “Violence should not be a part of, or even threats of violence, should not be a part of our political discourse.”

The resolution directs that no city personnel or resources be used to investigate, prosecute or impose penalties on people seeking transgender health care, and that Austin police should make investigating such cases their lowest priority.

Many members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies spoke in support of the resolution, while others spoke against the measure and based their opposition on either religious views or the likelihood that the state would punish Austin, as later evidenced by Paxton’s statement.

Speaking in support, Morgan Davis, a transgender man who serves on Austin’s Human Rights Commission, grew emotional when they recounted what it was like working as an investigator for Child Protective Services at a time when the agency was directed to look into reports of minors receiving gender-affirming care. Davis resigned instead, on grounds that “I took an oath to protect children. … Good people lost their jobs because they could not morally continue” to investigate trans kids, Davis said.

Before casting a dissenting vote, Kelly said that Austin, as a home rule city, “does indeed have a significant degree of autonomy. However … our autonomy should not be construed as a license to continually undermine state law. Repeated actions like this by our Council not only undermine the rule of law but also invite significant cost of litigation, which diverts valuable and limited city resources away from other critical services.”

Mayor Kirk Watson asked to be added as a co-sponsor to Vela’s resolution prior to the vote. Co-sponsors included Council members Ryan Alter, Zo Qadri, José Velásquez and Vanessa Fuentes. A Watson aide said the mayor would not comment on Paxton’s statement. Vela’s office did not respond by press time.

Photo by Emgann444, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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