Texas Sues Doctor For Providing Gender Affirming Care To Kids

For the first time since implementing a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth last year, Texas is prosecuting a doctor for allegedly providing gender affirming care to 21 children. Despite such legislation going against the guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Psychological Association (APA), and Endocrine Society, among a slew of others, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) claims gender affirming care (which he puts in quotation marks in an official statement) are, “experimental, and no scientific evidence supports their supposed benefits.”

Dr. May Lau is the Medical Director of the Adolescent and Young Adult clinic at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. According to her UTSouthwestern bio, she specializes in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, including gender dysphoria. The New York Times reports that she also worked at a clinic for adolescent trans healthcare until it shuttered in 2021 under political pressure from Governor Greg Abbott (R).

In Texas, one of 26 states with laws against children receiving gender affirming care, it is illegal to provide “surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones for the purposes of transitioning a child’s biological sex or affirming a child’s belief that their gender identity is inconsistent with their biological sex,” per the filing against Lau. In a statement, Paxton categorizes these treatments as “irreversible and damaging.” This is contrary to information from the APA, which only lists gender-affirming surgery as categorically irreversible. In a recent study, however, researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found little to no utilization of such surgeries on trans minors, and in fact found analogous surgeries (such as breast reduction on cis boys) far more common.

Lau has been accused of prescribing testosterone to trans boys, as is recommended by the APA and other governing medical bodies in cases deemed appropriate by the patient, their family, and their provider. Paxton and the state of Texas are seeking an injunction against Lau and $10,000 per violation ($210,000).

Similar anti-trans legislation has been successfully challenged elsewhere in the country. Bans in Arkansas and Florida were struck down by federal judges. In December, the Supreme Court will hear United States v. Skrmetti, the Biden administration’s challenge to Tennessee’s ban on gender affirming care for minors. Given the courts Conservative majority, however, its chances of success is not assured.

Laws against gender-affirming care, largely aimed at minors, are some in a suite of laws that have become increasingly common over the past decade. Trans Legislation Tracker has found 2024 to be the most prolific year for legislation to date. Out of 642 bills they’re tracking nationwide so far, 181 pertain to healthcare. While not all of those bills have made it past an introductory stage, and many have already been defeated, the marked increase year over year signals that these attacks on LGBTQ+ youth, which have been tied to poor outcomes for trans kids mental health, are an issue that must continue to be reckoned with.