The Texas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit over the state's investigations into families with transgender children because most of the investigations were closed and the children are no longer minors.
In a ruling Friday, the state’s highest civil court ruled that because the Department of Family and Protective Services isn’t actively investigating the families, they no longer face the alleged threats they outlined in their 2022 lawsuits against the agency.
The plaintiffs argued against dismissing the case, suggesting DFPS could choose to reopen its investigations without the injunction. But the Texas Supreme Court dismissed those concerns over future investigations as too speculative.
In a joint statement from Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and PFLAG — organizations that helped represent the plaintiffs in court — the groups said the high court's ruling is "purely procedural" and doesn't mean DFPS' rule requiring the investigations is lawful.
"DFPS argued to the Court that, given that gender affirming medical care is no longer lawfully provided to minors in Texas, there is no reason for DFPS to conduct future investigations," the statement said. "We will hold them to that."
A spokesperson for the governor's office referred KERA News to DFPS. KERA News reached out to the attorney general's office and plaintiffs' attorneys for comment and will update this story with any responses.
Gov. Greg Abbott directed DFPS in 2022 to comply with an opinion from the Texas attorney general declaring gender-affirming care for children unlawful and to investigate any children undergoing gender transition.
State lawmakers eventually passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors, which took effect in September 2023 after an unsuccessful attempt to prevent its enforcement.
The parents of Mary Doe — a then-16-year-old diagnosed with gender dysphoria — and Megan Mooney, a psychologist who treats LGBTQ children, sued the governor, DFPS and its commissioner a week after the agency announced it would comply with the attorney general’s opinion.
Gender dysphoria is psychological stress over one’s gender identity that is often the precursor to transitioning.
Parents Mirabel Voe, Wanda Roe and Adam and Amber Briggle — all of whom have transgender sons — and the national LGBTQ advocacy organization PFLAG sued the same three defendants a few months later.
The plaintiffs argued the DFPS statement was outside of its authority, unconstitutional and issued without the required notice and without accepting public comment. A Travis County judge issued three separate injunctions preventing DFPS from taking any further action.
Since then, DFPS has permanently closed its investigations into three of the four families, and the agency said it won’t look into new reports involving allegations that have already been investigated. DFPS stated its investigation into Doe is only open because the trial court’s temporary injunction prevented the agency from closing it.
Regardless, Doe is no longer a minor, so DFPS has no authority to investigate the family anymore, justices wrote.
The court also ruled it lacks jurisdiction to consider Mooney’s claim that she could face civil and criminal penalties and the loss of her license if she fails to report children who undergo medical transition treatments. Mooney also argued she would be negatively affected even if she did comply with the reporting requirements as she’d violate her professional standards and lose her patients’ trust.
But Mooney’s concerns are not enough to establish standing for the relief she wants, the court wrote.
“Her pleading reveals these concerns are, at this point, purely hypothetical,” the justices wrote. “Dr. Mooney has not alleged that any patient has threatened to sue or leave her practice based on her compliance with DFPS’s reporting requirements.”
Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote in a concurring opinion that he believes Mooney has standing for at least some of her claims to proceed against DFPS.
“I am inclined to view imposition by the government of an increased reporting burden of this nature as an injury sufficient to confer standing,” Blacklock wrote. “It seems to be an injury to which Mooney remains subject, despite intervening developments in the case.”
Still, he agreed the injunctions should be vacated in light of the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for children.
Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA’s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org.
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