Tag Archives: transgender rights

The first Harris County LGBTQIA+ Commission report

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

For your perusal. The Harris County LGBTQIA+ Commission came out with its list of recommendations to improve the quality of life for Houston’s LGBTQIA+ community. The commission, created in June 2023 under the office of Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues second doctor for providing gender affirming care to teens

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From before the election. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a second doctor for allegedly violating state law and providing gender-affirming medical care to minors. Dr. Hector Granados is an El Paso pediatric endocrinologist. Paxton accuses him in the … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues doctor for providing gender affirming care to teens

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Nothing good will come of this. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against a Dallas pediatrician, accusing her of violating state law by providing gender-transitioning treatments to at least 21 teenage patients. Thursday’s filing is Paxton’s first … Continue reading →

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A further clipping of Paxton’s wings

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This could be big. A federal magistrate judge has struck down a 100-plus year old Texas statute authorizing the state’s attorney general to investigate certain businesses and organizations for violating state laws. Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit hears drag ban appeal

Posted on October 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Hope for the best as always. A Fifth Circuit panel grappled with questions of free speech and expression on Wednesday as it deliberated whether to uphold a lower court’s ruling that a Texas law dealing with sexually explicit performances and … Continue reading →

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Court reform has to be about more than just SCOTUS

Posted on September 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Exhibit A. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton returned to court on Thursday to press his case against the Biden administration’s workforce protections for transgender employees. Texas’s lawsuit, filed in federal court on Thursday against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and … Continue reading →

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More on the drivers license/birth certificate gender change ban

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This Houston Landing story from Friday covers the recent news about the very quiet policy changes regarding birth certificates and drivers licenses, and adds some extra information at the end. I’m going to focus on that part of it. The … Continue reading →

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Paxton sues to block rule protecting abortion information

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like this should be bigger news. Texas sued the Biden administration in an effort to block a new rule that seeks to protect the privacy of women living in states that ban abortion who travel out of state … Continue reading →

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Now trans Texans can’t get their birth certificates updated

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is getting uglier. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) made an unannounced policy change Friday, modifying its requirements for Texans seeking to change the sex marker on their birth certificates. The DSHS website previously said the agency … Continue reading →

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Shawn Thierry confirms our suspicions

Posted on September 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t let the door hit you, etc etc etc. State Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Houston Democrat who was defeated in her primary earlier this year, announced Friday she is switching to the Republican Party. Thierry was ousted by primary challenger … Continue reading →

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Katy ISD keeps doing Katy ISD things to library books

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I suppose it’s useful to be reminded, as we slog our way through another Year Of Mike Miles, that the suburban school districts around us have their own unique set of dysfunctions. The Katy ISD board of trustees passed a … Continue reading →

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DPS will no longer update gender on drivers licenses

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

What the hell? Transgender Texans will not be able to change the sex listed on their driver’s licenses, according to a policy change rolled out this week. Under the new policy, Texans will not be able to change the sex … Continue reading →

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How Houston-area students are taking on conservative school boards

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good stuff. Rather than giving in to the common case of “senioritis,” recent Spring Woods High School graduate Cristopher Melendez spent his senior year determined to make his fellow classmates’ voices heard by Spring Branch ISD leaders. Melendez created a … Continue reading →

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State Supreme Court upholds gender affirming care ban

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t say I’m surprised. Hugely disappointed, but not surprised. The Texas Supreme Court upheld a recent state law that prohibits doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care to transgender minors after parents and medical professionals challenged the constitutionality of the restriction. Justice … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS to hear gender affirming care appeal

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Buckle up, this is a big one. The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the question of whether gender-affirming care bans for transgender youth are unconstitutional, in response to the Biden administration petitioning on behalf of trans youth and … Continue reading →

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Federal judge strikes down Florida laws against gender-affirming care for minors and adults

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest, for obvious reasons. Florida can no longer enforce its ban against transgender youth receiving gender-affirming care, or its restrictions against adults accessing gender-affirming care, after a federal district court ruling on Tuesday found those rules to be unconstitutional … Continue reading →

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The HD146 runoff

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve avoided writing about this for as long as I could, but it needs to be talked about. That Senate Bill 14 would pass was not in doubt. The legislation, which would bar gender-transitioning care for children and teens, had … Continue reading →

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Feds investigating Katy ISD

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation Monday into Katy Independent School District to determine if its controversial gender identity policy discriminates against students, according to records obtained by the Houston Landing. The investigation … Continue reading →

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Seattle Children’s Hospital settles with Paxton

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Meh. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will drop his quest to seize transgender patients’ information from a Seattle children’s hospital, according to a court settlement Paxton’s office announced on Monday. Seattle Children’s Hospital officials have said in sworn depositions that … Continue reading →

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Appeals court upholds injunction that halted DFPS investigations of trans kids’ families

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Today, the Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, upheld injunctions in two related cases against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and Commissioner Masters, barring them from implementing the agency’s rule expanding the definition … Continue reading →

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PFLAG wins injunction against Paxton’s intrusive data requests

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox, as I have not seen any news stories about this yet: The Travis County District Court today granted a temporary injunction blocking the Texas Attorney General’s Office’s latest effort targeting transgender Texans — its demand that PFLAG … Continue reading →

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Three Ken Paxton updates

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I missed these in the recent news rush, but spotted them all more or less at once via the Google News app on my phone. Doomscrolling for the win, I guess. Whistleblowers: Texas Supreme Court must reject Ken Paxton’s ‘scheme’ … Continue reading →

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PFLAG sues Paxton over intrusive data requests

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Time for more deep breathing. An LGBTQ advocacy group is suing the Texas attorney general after his agency requested information that the group said would reveal the identities of its members, including those who sought to stay anonymous in recent … Continue reading →

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The Shawn Thierry situation

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

The Trib covers one of the more important primaries in Harris County this cycle. That Senate Bill 14 would pass was not in doubt. The legislation, which would bar gender-transitioning care for children and teens, had universal Republican support and … Continue reading →

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SCOTx has its hearing on gender affirming care ban

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know what to expect. The Texas Supreme Court heard a legal challenge Tuesday to a new state law banning doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a prohibition that a district court judge said was unconstitutional. After … Continue reading →

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Paxton harasses another out of state clinic

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Disgusting, but par for the course with our degenerate AG. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking medical records from a Georgia telehealth clinic that offers gender transition care to young people in Texas and other states where the treatment … Continue reading →

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Seattle Children’s Hospital sues Texas Attorney General over trans patient records

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Seattle Children’s Hospital has sued the Texas Office of the Attorney General to block the release of patient information after the agency sent the Washington-based health care system an investigative subpoena demanding … Continue reading →

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Title IX complaint filed against Katy ISD

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good, but more will be needed. A student activist group has filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against Katy ISD, claiming that the district’s gender fluidity policy is discriminatory. The policy, approved by the school board … Continue reading →

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The state of healthcare for trans kids today

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s bad. In the past three years alone, life as a young transgender person in the U.S. has changed dramatically. Before 2021, gender-affirming medical care was legal in all 50 states. None had even tried to ban it. Today, 22 … Continue reading →

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Drag ban officially ruled unconstitutional

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Texas cannot enforce a new law that restricts some public drag shows, a federal judge said Tuesday in declaring the legislation unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge David Hittner found Senate Bill 12 “impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills … Continue reading →

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Drag ban blocked

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good. U.S. District Judge David Hittner temporarily blocked a new state law Thursday from going into effect that would have criminalized sexually-oriented performances in front of children or effectively banned some public drag shows. LGBTQ+ groups sued the Texas attorney … Continue reading →

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Law banning gender affirming care goes into effect pending litigation

Posted on September 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Very unfortunate, to say the least. A Texas law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth will go into effect as scheduled Friday. The law will kick in September 1st despite a state district judge’s ruling last week that the … Continue reading →

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Katy ISD attacks its LGBTQ+ students

Posted on August 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Shameful. Katy Independent School District trustees narrowly voted Monday to enact several restrictions on how employees can handle gender identity matters after listening to over four hours of public testimony overwhelmingly against the measure. In a heated 4-3 vote, Katy … Continue reading →

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Law banning gender-affirming care for minors temporarily blocked

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

And then unblocked, which is how these things go. A Texas law banning transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy will go into effect next week after the state attorney general’s office filed to block a judge’s temporary … Continue reading →

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