Trans Texans, families worried as lawmakers target some med care

Aaron Richie said when his son, Landon, came out as transgender, what scared him the most was the thought of a medical transition.

After seeing Landon’s daily struggles with his body and consulting psychiatrists and pediatricians, Richie decided to help his then 13-year-old son begin the process of transitioning.

“I thought to myself, ‘Why am I going to make him do this five more years?’” Richie said. “So that I feel better so that my parents feel better? So that when I tell other people they are not freaked out? It just became an indefensible position that this has to wait until 18.”

Now, he helps other families come to terms with the idea of gender-affirming care as a support group leader for parents and families of transgender children. He says the current wave of bills in the Texas Legislature aim to ban gender-affirming care for minors, including puberty suppressants, hormone treatment or gender transition surgeries, would make this already difficult time even harder for transgender children and their parents.

Richie also testified against Senate Bill 1646, which would define providing gender-affirming care to children younger than 18 as child abuse. He said he met many parents who struggled with the fear that they will be harming their child with this decision.

“I’ve watched it repeat over and over where this is such a difficult question and the parents just want to know, ‘Am I making the right decision?’” Richie said. “This bill in particular really gets at a part of our journeys that is already so difficult.”

Denton County business owner Amber Briggle also has been making trips to Austin to testify at the Capitol against these bills. She says her family leads a normal life compared to other families, but recently they have been thrust into the bustle of activism.

“We are not that scary trans-inclusive family with this terrifying trans agenda trying to ‘transup’ your kids,” Briggle said. “We are surrounded by love and not every trans-inclusive family has that. That is the reason why we feel so safe and partially obligated to advocate.”

Several other bills have been filed to restrict gender-affirming care in the Texas House, including House Bill 1399 and its companion bill Senate Bill 1311, which both passed out of committee. The bills would categorize gender-affirming care to minors as as a “prohibited practice” for licensed medical providers and prohibit medical liability coverage for these procedures.