It’s malpractice to mention Ken Paxton without reminding the reader that Ken Paxton has been indicted for felony fraud and is also under investigation for bribery. Putting up a neon sign welcoming bigots isn’t just a human rights abuse, it’s a shiny human rights abuse to distract voters from his crimes.
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It doesn’t matter if he wasn’t being indicted. He would likely do this anyway.
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Not nearly as much as it once did. Too often still, but there has been progress. As late as my med school experience, it was “make them all female, it’s easier to make a hole than a pole.” (Actual rationalization heard repeated many times.) Much less common now.
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That’s good to hear.
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In a way, this is worse and more terrifying, because there is no recourse unless a Dem is elected to the office. Also why it is a model for every wannabe Il Douche to follow to prove their fascist bona fides.
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How is Paxton still in office?
That #$%^&* is still under indictment for fraud. Texas is so corrupt that he is handling his own prosecution.
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There are enough fascists in Texas to keep him and other shit stains like him in power.
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Can these clowns point to even one example of a kid who later grew up to claim their parents caused them harm by supporting them in their gender identity?
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No. They can’t. But they don’t care. They want to bull the kids back into the closet, because the kids make them feel uncomfortable…
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Forget the closet; a lot of them are being bullied right into the morgue.
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They also want to see the trans teen suicide rate rise.
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They’re also allowing a complaint to go forward that might result in him losing his license to practice law
Re: whether this is better or worse for it to just be a legal opinion, I honestly don’t know. But I think as a legal opinion it means that you don’t have to abide by it (i.e. CPS does not have to do what he ask and mandatory reports aren’t actually mandatorily required to report). You still have to find people brave enough to do it, but if the law had passed I think parents of trans kids would find the same thing happening as now plus they could get sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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Yes. And that’s not an outcome these bigots object to…
they do.
They have the power of the state government behind them? WTF do you think they fear right now?
And as noted above - the goal is to eliminte the trans community in TX, either via people leaving, people being bullied back in the closet, or by trans kids killing themselves.
This is doing and going to do REAL damage to REAL people. It’s not a hypothetical that children are going to be hurt and die because of what’s happening. 
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They have the power of the state government behind them? WTF do you think they fear right now?
Sorry, in case I wasn’t clear, people just need to be brave enough to not comply with the legal opinion
In texas the AG’s legal opinions are like, his interpretation of the law. Courts are not required to take them under consideration, and they aren’t laws. If you violate an AG’s legal opinion you may find yourself in court, and you may be ruled against on the strength of them, but not to the same degree as you would if a law had been passed.
So any decent person can and should refuse to comply with it, if they’re able to.
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They shouldn’t have to, though.
Which has real world consequences.
And some judges absolutely will, and people’s safety should not be subject to the whim of judges.
Again, that is no comfort if a child is removed from their home and sent to an abusive one because it’s a “Christian” home. People are going to get hurt. People are going to die.
People are going to get hurt. People are going to die.
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You seem to be under the impression that I think it’s good that he issued this legal opinion. I don’t, I think it’s terrible. I just think it’s somewhat better than if last year’s law had passed. You’d have everything you have now, but a lot worse.
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No, I don’t think that. I think you’re focusing on the aspect that, while true, doesn’t take into account the real harm that is coming of this legal opinion. It’s not an abstract, it’s happening to real people right now. I don’t think you’re supporting it, I just think you’re abstracting it.
But it didn’t, so we’re dealing with what’s actually happening right now and the damage it’s doing. Whether you intend to or not, you are downplaying that harm.
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Well, ok. Downplaying it is not what I intended to do, so I will be quiet about it.
No, he has not downplayed the harm that is occurring. He pointed out that there are more ways available to not comply with this horribleness than there would be if it were a law. If even a few people stand up and say “sorry, that opinion is just wrong and I won’t follow it” it will help. Presenting this as a mandatory legal requirement is meant to scare people into compliance. Reminding them that it holds no legal weight is necessary.
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Again. That is cold comfort for families whose children are removed from their safe homes and taken to an abusive one. Or denied needed health care. There is already one major childrens healthcare system that has stopped providing gender affirming care.
So the harm is already happening right now. It’s not an abstract, but a reality for actual people, much like the anti-choice law.
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