Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines recently criticized Gov. Greg Abbott for not addressing sex-reassignment issues.
American Principles Project (APP) recently issued a press release announcing a new $1 million ad campaign that asks Abbott to take action against sex-reassignment surgeries for children.
"A crisis is growing across the country," APP President Terry Schilling said. "Children as young as 3 years old are being increasingly exploited for profit by radical left-wing activists, bad doctors, and Big Pharma — even in Texas. After reviewing the matter at the request of Gov. Abbott, Texas’ Department of Family and Protective Services has rightly concluded that pediatric ‘gender transition’ procedures constitute child abuse. However, Gov. Abbott inexplicably chose not to bring up legislation to ban those procedures during the legislature’s last special session."
"Our $1 million grassroots advocacy campaign, fueled by Texans, is calling on Gov. Abbott to protect children from these procedures which cause permanent damage, and in many cases sterilization."
The first ad in the campaign calls on Abbott to support SB 1646. The ad states, "Given the opportunity to protect Texas children, Greg Abbott chose not to bring up legislation, even after his own Department of Family and Protective Services declared the treatments to be child abuse. Tell Governor Abbott to protect our children." The ad also references the case of James Younger.
“Texans are furious that Greg Abbott has not taken real steps to outlaw the genital mutilation of our children," Huffines said. "I am glad to see organizations raising awareness about Abbott’s refusal to do the right thing. I will never hesitate to protect our children from corrupting leftist gender ideology. When I am Governor, banning the practice of so-called ‘sex changes’ will be a top priority."
Huffines refers to sex reassignment surgery as "genital mutilation," a legal definition that is specific to the state of Texas.
According to Texas Scorecard, Flower Mound father Jeffrey Younger, who has fought to stop his ex-wife from subjecting his child to sex-reassignment surgery, blames Republican leadership in the Texas House of Representatives for refusing to support legislation barring the practice. According to Younger, Rep. Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth) refused to back a bill because it would “set the wrong tone” in any public hearing and “trans people would be traumatized” as a result of it being heard.
In August 2021, Dallas County District Court Judge Mary Brown, a Democrat, granted full custody of 8-year-old James Younger to his mother, who says her child identifies as a girl named Luna, according to Yahoo! News. Brown’s ruling was supported by court-ordered counselor Dr. Susan Fletcher, a Frisco psychologist who was appointed to three state boards by Abbott. Brown's ruling grants the mother the right to the child's medical procedures, but that does not extend to sex-reassignment surgery, hormone-suppression therapy or puberty blockers.
Lifesite News reported in August 2021 that Abbott has “expressed public support for Jeff Younger’s cause, but has taken little action during his six-year tenure to protect children like James from experimental, irreversible transgender procedures or from transgender indoctrination.” After Brown’s custody ruling, Abbott ordered a formal investigation into whether forcing children to endure sex-change surgery constituted child abuse.
In August 2021, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Commissioner Jaime Masters confirmed in a letter to Abbott that “genital mutilation of a child through (sex) reassignment surgery is child abuse, subject to all rules and procedures pertaining to child abuse, (as) such mutilation may cause a ‘genuine threat of substantial harm from physical injury to the child.' Allegations involving genital mutilation of a child through reassignment surgery will be promptly and thoroughly investigated and any appropriate actions will be taken."
Elected in 2014, Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, he was the longest-serving attorney general of Texas.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015-19, he represented Texas' 16th State Senate District. He is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
