LOS ANGELES – Elliot Page is “horrified” by Texas government officials declaring that medical care for transgender youth is child abuse. The “Juno” actor spoke out after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton proclaimed Monday that hormone therapy, puberty blockers and other types of gender-affirming health care for trans youth are forms of chid abuse.
“There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted,” Paxton said in a statement. “The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.”
Paxton added on Twitter that gender-affirming procedures for children “are monstrous and tragic.” His views were later supported by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who called on state agencies to conduct “prompt and thorough investigations” into the use of gender-affirming care for trans youth.
Abbott sent a letter to Texas’ Department of Family and Protective Services claiming gender-affirming treatments “can legally constitute child abuse under several provisions” of state law. He also noted that Texas medical workers must report instances of child abuse and that current law “provides criminal penalties for failure to report such child abuse.”
“I am horrified by the inhumane and downright dangerous declarations by the Texas Governor and Attorney General,” Elliot Page said in a statement to Variety. “Trans youth deserve gender-affirming care and to be able to live their true, authentic selves without fear and oppression. I stand with trans youth and their families.”
Actor Gabrielle Union, whose stepdaughter is transgender, used her Twitter page to urge her followers to get involved now in opposing Abbott and Paxton’s anti-trans beliefs.
“This is where we are,” Union wrote. “We shot past dangerous and horrific a long time ago. The rubber has hit the road so who is standing shoulder to shoulder in this fight?”
Jen Richards, a prominent trans actor whose credits include “Better Things” and “Mrs. Fletcher,” wrote on Twitter, “Texas has declared that the kind of care recommended by every major medical and pediatric association, with decades of proof of efficacy, and provided by doctors in full cooperation with parents…is child abuse.”
“We know hat the result will be,” Richards continued. “Because trans people exist, have always existed, and will always exists, it just means that trans youth will be more at risk, more vulnerable, at home and in schools. They will be kicked out or run away and suicide rates will spike.”
Referring to Abbott and Paxton, Richard added, “These people are seriously sick and project all their anxieties and obsessions on to us. We’re out here just trying to live our lives and they cant stop thinking about us. Our bodies. Our sex. All their efforts are like twisted fan-fiction horror. It’s dark and twisted.”
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