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LULAC Condemns Anti-Trans Youth Texas Policy

The nation's largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights volunteer-based organization speaks out against Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s unethical and illegal order against transgender youth

Washington, D.C. — LULAC strongly condemns Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s order directing a state agency to investigate families who are providing gender-affirming care to their children.

It is both ethically and legally wrong to consider best-practice, age-appropriate, medically-necessary, gender-affirming care for transgender children as child abuse. LULAC believes that the universal human rights of the LGBTQ community should not be undermined and that targeting transgender and gender non-conforming adults and youth at the state-level is abhorrent and condemnable.

LULAC believes that the rights, civil liberties, and legal protections afforded to the people of many faiths, cultures, and races living within the United States also extend to members of the Transgender community. Our membership reaffirmed this belief at the LULAC National Convention in 2017, as a response to attacks against the Transgender community by former President Donald Trump and some members of his party.

LULAC supports the medical community’s stance which states that sexual orientation and gender identity are real concepts. These concepts are recognized by major medical and mental health associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

LULAC encourages the State of Texas to direct its resources to investigate the real child abuse occuring in its own house. Texas’ child welfare system has violated the constitution by keeping more than 12,000 youth in underfunded and poorly run facilities where rape, abuse, psychological medication and instability are the norm, according to a U.S. federal judge in 2015. Conditions have not improved as of reporting from 2020.

LULAC’s leadership had the following comments:

“Rather than attacking a marginalized population in the Lone Star State to score political points, Governor Abbott should learn more about these children he is attacking and stop fueling discrimination,” said Jesse Garcia, LULAC LGBTQ Committee Chair, and Texas-native. “These children already face immense pressure, bullying and discrimination. What these children need is a state government that protects them.”

“No child of God should be discriminated against by politicians to get votes,” said Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President. “This order is vile and evil,” he added.

“It is unconscionable for Governor Abbott to invade the most private and sacred parental rights pertaining to the health and well-being of their own children,” said Rodolfo Rosales Jr., LULAC Texas State Director. “Texas LULAC vehemently opposes any intrusion by the state that violates the wishes of families who are seeking support. Transgender children deserve to grow up with positive reinforcement, not treated as if they are defective and need fixing,” added Rosales.

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About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/