Mixed court ruling allows trans youth parent investigations

AUSTIN, TEXAS >> The Texas Supreme Court on Friday allowed the state to investigate parents of transgender youth for child abuse while also ruling in favor of one family that was among the first contacted by child welfare officials following an order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The court did not rule on the merits of the investigations — which were the first of its kind in the U.S. — only that lower courts in Texas overstepped by trying to block all cases from going forward.

The mixed ruling by Texas’ highest civil court, which is made up of nine elected Republican justices, comes at a moment when GOP lawmakers across the U.S. are accelerating efforts to impose restrictions on transgender rights. Both parties in the lawsuit called the decision a victory.

Lambda Legal, which helped bring the lawsuit on behalf of the parents of the 16-year-old girl, called the decision a win because it put the state’s investigation into their family on hold.