Transgender student, 13, interrogated in school by Texas agency over ‘child abuse’ order

The state’s Department of Family and Protective Services is still investigating families over the governor’s directive despite court orders to shut them down, filings reveal

On 30 August, just days after returning to school from summer break, a 13-year-old transgender boy in Texas was pulled out of his classroom and interrogated by an investigator with the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services, according to court filings.

The eighth grader – identified under the pseudonym Steve Koe – “loves to read, draw, and listen to music,” working on cars with his dad, cooking, and playing football, according to testimony from his mother reviewed by The Independent.

Last week, he was sent to a school conference room where the investigator – referring to him by his birth name and sex assigned at birth – told him his mother was under investigation for “child abuse”.

A nearly hour-long interrogation included “personal questions about himself, his most intimate thoughts, his family, his diagnosis, his medical history, and current health care – all the while keeping him separated from his classmates and keeping him out of class,” according to the filing.

The filing joins a legal challenge from LGBT+ advocacy groups and Texas families with transgender children against the state’s directive to prosecute families with children receiving gender-affirming care as acts of child abuse.

But recent filings reveal that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is still complying with the directive and pursuing more cases – despite state officials telling the courts that they would be closing them down.

“Instead of stopping the investigation or closing it … they’re in essence doing the opposite: laying eyes on one family and opening an investigation into another one,” Lambda Legal senior attorney Shelly Skeen told The Washington Post, which first reported the filings.

In February, Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to pursue child abuse cases against families with transgender children, which followed an opinion from state Attorney General Ken Paxton claiming that widely accepted, evidence-based clinical guidelines to treat trans youth should “legally constitute child abuse” under state law.

His order sparked two separate lawsuits against the administration from families with transgender children. In March, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a family with a 16-year-old daughter.

Another suit, also filed by Lambda Legal and the ACLU on behalf of three other families, also seeks to block the state from targeting people affiliated with LGBT+ advocacy group PFLAG, which has roughly 600 members in the state.

In July, Texas Judge Amy Clark Meachum blocked investigations into two of the three plaintiffs named in that suit but did not rule on a request to stop the state from pursuing cases against a third family or other members of PFLAG, the LGBT+ advocacy group leading the lawsuit.

Judge Meachum instead asked attorneys to submit additional evidence to demonstrate how state agencies are handling the governor’s directive.

On 7 September, attorneys submitted a statement from Carol Koe about her son Steve Koe, both using pseudonyms to protect their right to privacy and against threats of discrimination and abuse.

Attorneys also submitted the case of Samantha Poe, whose 14-year-old child is not receiving any medical care related to their gender identity but is “in the midst of exploring what a social transition feels like”, according to the filing.

On 25 August, Ms Poe’s attorney was told by the Department of Family and Protective Services that she must consent her child to an interview or provide proof that they are “well-adjusted,” according to the filing.

“These new requests follow numerous other attempts to unnecessarily intrude into my and my child’s privacy and interfere with my rights as a parent,” according to Ms Poe, who said that therapists working with her child have warned that the ongoing probe could negatively impact their mental health after making progress up until news of the governor’s order.

After Steve’s interview with the Department of Family and Protective Services agent, he was “so upset that he could not go back to class” and grew “very fearful and upset that something might happen to me or his dad because of who he is,” his mother said in the filing.

“Steve sought the assistance of a guidance counselor at school and sat by himself in the school library until I could pick him up,” she wrote. “He was so overwhelmed by what happened he could not go to class and has now missed class for three other days because of the stress and anxiety of the … investigator questioning him, myself, and his father.”

The Independent has requested comment from the governor’s office.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is named in a lawsuit to block his directive to investigate gender-affirming care for trans youth as child abuse cases. (Getty Images)

Following treatment for his mental health after a suicide attempt earlier this year, a therapist diagnosed Steve with gender dysphoria, and his endocrinologist and pediatrician recommended medical treatment including puberty-delaying medications and hormone therapy.

“The effects of affirming who my son … have been remarkable,” his mother wrote in the filing. “After facing so much depression and distress, he is finally himself again. … He enjoys playing football and has been having a great school year. I have seen him make friends and laugh again. He is finally comfortable with himself and happy.”

After interviewing Steve, an investigator arrived at Carol’s apartment and told her she was being investigated for “child abuse” and claimed it was “illegal” to seek hormone therapy for her child, according to the filing. Following a 45-minute meeting, the investigator “went directly” to Steve’s father’s workplace, she said.

The ordeal has weighed heavily on the family. The experience has exposed Steve to an uncomfortable level of scrutiny from his peers at school, where he no longer feels safe, according to his mother.

“I want what is best for my son and do not want him to be denied medically necessary treatment or targeted or investigated simply for being who he is,” she wrote. “I worry that other parents will hesitate to seek out the care and support that their transgender children may need out of fear that someone will report them … if the threat for baseless investigations remains.”