Topline
About 60 companies criticized Texas policy directing “child abuse” investigations into parents of transgender children receiving gender-verifying medical care on Friday, which contradicts the directive and other “efforts to document discrimination law and policy” in an open letter to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) as the court prepares to possibly block the rule.
Transgender rights protesters at the Stonewall Inn on February 23, 2017 in New York City.
Getty Images
Basic Facts
The letter, released by the Human Rights Campaign as a full page ad on Dallas Morning Newscalled on Abbott to “leave [his] anti -LGBTQ+efforts, “writing that” discrimination is bad for business. “
Abbott’s directive “goes against the values of our companies” and “creates fear for our employees and their families,” the companies wrote.
The signatories are also targeting other “efforts that discriminate against transgender youth” across the country — while other states are passing policies such as restrictions on transgender girls on student athletes. or restrictions on medical care — and called on Abbott and other leaders to “abandon their efforts” to pass such legislation.
The letter was signed by companies saying they were “doing business, doing jobs and serving customers in Texas,” including some large companies with office locations in the state, such as Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, Capital One, PayPal and Salesforce.
Important Quotes
Efforts to “write discrimination law and policy” are “not only wrong, it has an impact on our employees, our customers, their families and our jobs,” the companies wrote.
Full List
The companies that signed the letter were Akamai Technologies, Amalgamated Bank, Apple, BASF Corporation, Ben and Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Bottle Rocket, Bounteous, Box, Inc., Capital One, Cisco, Corning Incorporated, Creative Artists Agency, CREDO Mobile , Curology, Dow, Dropbox, Edelman, Electronic Arts, Emerson, Fastly, Folx Health, Gap Inc., Gearbox, Google, GSD & M, H&M US, IBM, ICM Partners, IKEA US, Included Health, Johnson & Johnson, Juniper Networks, Levi Strauss & Co., LinkedIn, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Macy’s, Inc., MassMutual, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft Corporation, Momentive, Neiman Marcus, Patagonia, Patreon, PayPal, Phillips Murrah PC, Pinterest, Plume, Range Media Partners , REI Co-op, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Inc., Shutterstock, State Street, Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, SXSW, Talon Labs, Taxa Outdoors, Texas LGBT Chambers of Commerce, Trillium Asset Management, LLC, Unilever United States, VMLY & R, VMware , Yahoo and Yelp.
Padaplis
Public opposition by Texas policy firms comes because Disney has been separately criticized for not making enough progress to oppose separate legislation targeting the LGBTQ community in Florida, referred to by critics as “Don ‘t Say Gay Bill. ” Disney CEO Bob Chapek initially refused to speak out in opposition to the policy before reversing course and denounced it during a shareholders ’meeting Wednesday — a day after the bill was passed in the state legislature — but the company has continued to receive backlash from employees and customers, and the HRC itself has said it will not take money from Disney until the company has taken “significant action” against the bill. Disney was not among the signatories of the Texas open letter.
Key Background
Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) on Feb. 22 to conduct a “prompt and thorough investigation.[s] ”To parents of transgender children who have received gender -verifying treatment. Parents who are found to be violating the rule can be convicted of “child abuse” and listed on a child abuse register, as well as other potential consequences such as expulsion of their children. of Child Protective Services. The policy faces widespread opposition, including from many medical groups, with the Texas Pediatric Society saying it “weakens the doctor-patient-family relationship and will cause undue harm to children in Texas. . ” Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended the directive, which a consultant for Abbott’s re -election campaign described to reporters as a political “winner” for the governor.
What to Watch
A state judge has already blocked Texas from continuing an investigation into the parents of a transgender child under the directive, and a hearing will be held Friday to determine whether to block the statewide policy. Reuters reported that the DFPS has opened nine investigations on parents under the policy.
Further Reading
Texas Court Blocks ‘Child Abuse’ Investigation For Parents Of Transgender Children (Forbes)
Texas judge to rule on investigations into parents of transgender children (Reuters)
The Texas Gov. Abbott calls Transgender ‘Child Abuse’ Rule a Political ‘Winner’ (Forbes)
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