Texas Supreme Court orders LGBTQ org. to turn over records in transgender care investigation

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A trans pride flag during the Rise Up for Trans Youth rally against President Donald Trump's executive actions targeting transgender people at Union Square in New York, US, on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2025. Three of New York's most prominent hospitals are c

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AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the state's attorney general’s office to demand records from PFLAG, reversing a lower court's decision that had shielded the LGBTQ+ advocacy group from a broad investigation into medical care for transgender minors.

PFLAG must turn over documents in several categories

The backstory:

The attorney general's office first issued a civil investigative demand to LGBTQ advocacy group, PFLAG, after the group's executive director filed an affidavit during a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on gender-affirming care.

The affidavit said families with transgender adolescents were sharing "contingency plans," seeking to move out of state or looking for "alternative avenues" for care in Texas.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office argued those statements created a "reasonable belief" that PFLAG possessed information about medical providers attempting to circumvent the state ban through deceptive billing. PFLAG sued to block the state’s subsequent civil investigative demand in February 2024, alleging it was an overreach that threatened member privacy.

Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote that the courts should not interfere with the investigative discretion authorized by lawmakers.

"Whether or how vigorously the Attorney General’s office should pursue investigations of this nature are political questions entrusted by the Legislature to the Attorney General, not to the courts," Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote. "Courts are well suited to resolve discovery fights. Courts are not well suited to second-guess the wisdom of investigatory decisions made by an elected executive officer entrusted by the law with broad discretion."

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that the district court focused on the original CID request of the attorney general's office instead of the revised version that allowed for PFLAG to anonymize and redact identifying information of its members. The court said any concerns the organization had about privacy were mitigated by the agreement to allow for those protections.

What they're saying:

"Since proposing the revised CID in March 2024, the Attorney General’s office has consistently disclaimed any desire to revive its original CID or to obtain information that would identify individual PFLAG members," Blacklock wrote.

The court clarified that under the state's consumer protection laws, the attorney general does not need concrete proof of a violation to issue a demand for documents; a 'reasonable basis' for belief is sufficient.

"The Attorney General’s statutory CID authority is triggered not by demonstration or proof that the target of a CID has relevant material. It is instead triggered by mere belief," Blacklock said. "By choosing to submit the affidavit, PFLAG voluntarily invited further inquiry by the Attorney General’s office into the affidavit’s contents."

The court ordered the release of documents in several categories mentioned in the attorney general's revised CID:

• Communications about "contingency plans" or alternative care options
• Referrals or lists of healthcare providers for transgender youth in Texas
• Communications involving certain healthcare providers mentioned in the attorney general's investigations

The court, however, said requests for information on PFLAG's internal organization were not clearly relevant and did not need to be released.

Lawsuits against doctors accused of providing gender-affirming care

Two North Texas doctors have been sued by Attorney General Ken Paxton, who claims the doctors continued to prescribe gender transition drugs to minors in violation of state law.

In October 2024, Paxton sued Dr. May Lau claiming the UT Southwestern pediatrician prescribed hormones to at least 21 patients between the ages of 14 and 17. Court documents also claimed Lau implanted a puberty-blocking device into a 15-year-old and falsely billed the patient's insurance for an endocrine disorder instead of gender dysmorphia.

Lau voluntarily surrendered her medical license earlier last year. In a statement provided to the Texas Tribune, Lau said she was moving her medical practice to Oregon and no longer needed to maintain a Texas medical license.

Dr. M. Brett Cooper was sued a month later for prescribing testosterone to 15 minor patients between the ages of 15 and 17.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in May.

A third doctor was also sued by Paxton, El Paso endocrinologist Hector Granados, but that suit was dropped in September after it found that the doctor had stopped providing gender-affirming care to minors before the law took effect.

Dig deeper:

In 2023, the Texas Legislature banned transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

The law bars trans kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies, treatments many medical groups support. Children already receiving these treatments will have to be "weaned off" in a "medically appropriate" manner. The law also bans transition-related surgeries for kids, though those are rarely performed on minors. Texas is home to one of the largest trans communities in the U.S.