WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the wake of discriminatory attacks on trans youth in state legislatures across the country — including the unprecedented move earlier this week by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directing Texas’s Department of Family and Protective Services to consider best-practice, age-appropriate, medically-necessary, gender-affirming care for transgender children as child abuse — the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is lifting up the stories of transgender young people and their families across the country, to showcase the importance of gender-affirming care in the words of those impacted.

Below we’ve included videos from:

• 11-year-old Libby, from Texas

• 11-year-old Maya, also from Texas

• 14-year-old Rebekah, from New Jersey

• Father David Fuller, from Alabama

If you’re interested in speaking with a family about the impact of these legislative attacks in Texas or across the country, please email press@hrc.org.

BACKGROUND

Earlier this week, Gov. Abbott joined a wave of extremist politicians in attacking transgender youth by taking the unprecedented move of directing Texas’s Department of Family and Protective Services to consider best-practice, age-appropriate, medically-necessary, gender-affirming care for transgender children as child abuse. Abbott’s letter follows the release of a legal opinion by Attorney General Paxton - which is not legally binding - that opined the same.

Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton’s unprecedented efforts are part of broader attempts in states like South Dakota, Alabama and Florida to criminalize healthcare decisions made between parents, medical experts, and transgender youth. Since 2020, more than one hundred bills have been introduced aiming to prevent transgender youth from accessing best-practice, age-appropriate, medically necessary, gender-affirming care. Every major medical and mental health organization in the country supports gender-affirming care for transgender and non-binary people. The American Academy of Pediatrics,Texas State Teachers Association and National Education Association and Prevent Child Abuse America have condemned the Attorney General’s opinion and recent data from the Trevor Project shows that the use of gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is significantly related to lower rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth.

Libby’s story

11-year-old Libby tells the story of how it feels to be subjected to repeated attacks by her state legislature: