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In a lawsuit filed Wednesday evening in Travis County state
court, PFLAG called Attorney General Ken Paxton's demands "a
clear and unmistakable overreach...in retaliation for PFLAG
successfully standing up for its members."
Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
PFLAG is also a plaintiff, along with several families of
transgender adolescents, in lawsuits challenging Texas' ban on
gender-affirming care for minors and a rule requiring the
state's child protection agency to investigate families seeking
such care.
PFLAG won preliminary orders blocking enforcement of the
policies in both cases, which Paxton's office is appealing to
the state's Supreme Court. The gender-affirming care ban has
been allowed to take effect during the appeal, while
investigations of families remain blocked for now.
Paxton's office on Feb. 9 demanded information from PFLAG about
its communications concerning families' plans to access
gender-affirming care, saying they were part of an investigation
into possible violations of the state's consumer protection
laws. The demand letters, which are attached to the lawsuit, did
not elaborate on exactly how the consumer protection law might
be violated.
PFLAG said the demands were actually an effort to get around an
automatic pause on discovery in the earlier lawsuits.
It said the demands would violate its rights of free speech and
free assembly, and could expose the identities of patients and
families who have sought information about gender-affirming
care.
Texas is one of more than 20 Republican-led states that have
sought to restrict the treatments. Many have prompted legal
challenges, and courts have been divided on whether to allow
them.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi and Josie Kao)
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