BASIC Studios

Dear Governor Greg Abbott,

 

     I write to you as a concerned citizen from the state of Texas who has, during your time in office, lost faith in our political system and the integrity of our elected leaders. It is my fondest hope, sir, that you are not re-elected to serve another term as governor. That, as of now, has yet to be determined. If you are, to my dismay, re-elected to serve as governor for a fourth term, I implore you to reconsider your stance regarding transgender minors and their families. Your declaration that a minor who receives gender-affirming care with familial support is therefore being abused is unfounded, dangerous, and based in ignorance and prejudice. 

     

     The decision to pursue gender-affirming care is not made as arbitrarily or spontaneously as you and many of your politically conservative peers seem to believe. In case you were unaware, medical, surgical, and non-medical care services available to gender-diverse individuals exist in stages. Treatments available to a gender-diverse individual are dependent upon their age. Even before undergoing any gender-affirming medical treatment, a majority of gender-diverse individuals socially transition. They begin using the pronouns with which they identify, dress to suit their preferred gender identity, and otherwise conduct themselves in a fashion that affirms their preferred gender. Research clearly proves that supporting and affirming a gender-diverse individual while they socially transition tremendously benefits their overall mental health. 

     

     When the time comes to consider gender-affirming care in the form of medical intervention, there exists a number of impermanent options, which any precede surgical measures. Puberty blockers, for example, are reversible. Hormone therapy— testosterone, which is prescribed to biological females and estrogen,
which is prescribed to biological males— is offered to adolescents and older individuals, and partially reversible. Gender-affirming surgeries, an irreversible method of care, are performed on consenting adults. 

     

     With this information in mind, I wonder what you sought to accomplish in proclaiming that validating gender-diverse minors constitutes an act of abuse. To condemn a parent’s support of their gender-diverse child as abuse necessitating investigation —and in doing so, potentially subjecting that already-vulnerable and marginalized child to further trauma— you dramatically increase their risk of suicide and other mental illness issues, as well as unnecessarily separate from their support system. In fact, chance of suicide among trans and nonbinary individuals skyrockets when gender identity is not affirmed. As we both know, Texas’ Department of Family and Protective Services is already overworked and underfunded. During the Covid19 pandemic and the catastrophic winter storm of 2021, children under the state’s care were briefly housed in the department’s offices and other unsafe and ill-supplied locations. Your

call to action has no logical basis or feasible solution.  

     

     In short, sir, I ask you this: eschew detrimental extremes and examine this precarious issue from a more balanced, science-based point of view. You would no doubt earn approval on both sides of the political spectrum if you used your position to advocate for education and allowed space to explore the nuances present. I know, when it comes to the children we love, caregivers react first from a place of unfettered emotion. But when we take space to examine the dilemma at hand from all perspectives and educate ourselves using the facts available, we leave room for a data-informed, empathetic response. In doing so, we improve the outcomes for those in our care. We agree that their health is of the utmost importance. If affirming gender-diverse minors positively impacts their mental health and overall sense of wellbeing, should we not therefore welcome the opportunity to provide them with those resources which validate them? 

      

     Sir, I urge you to carefully reexamine your attitude in regards to this issue, for the sake of the gender-diverse youths of Texas and their families. 

     

     Sincerely,

a constituent of Texas.