Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American attorney who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since January 20, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the third governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair. He is also the first disabled governor in Texas history.
pic.twitter.com/6DMYvIJ3Qb— Denton Possum (@DentonPossum) March 3, 2022Texas House candidate Jeff Younger first came to ignoble prominence after losing custody of his twins due to his refusal to accept his trans daughter’s identity.
Now he’s running for office with a campaign largely centered around preventing transitional care for trans youth, which he characterizes as abuse.
His views matches those of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who last month instructed Child Protective Services to investigate parents who provide gender-affirming care to their kids.Related: Texas DA’s refuse to uphold Governor’s order to investigate parents of trans kids for “child abuse”The campus group Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) invited Younger to speak at UNT, creating controversy ahead of time with flyers for the event they posted on campus.
YCT President Kelly Neidert posted a video of herself to social media arguing with a fellow student about them, and later revealing on Twitter that one read “Criminalize child transitions,” and the other: “Ban child transitions.”UNT President Neal Smatresk took note of the growing tension and penned a campus-wide email saying he knew “the last several days may have felt particularly difficult for the transgender members of our community, due to the intolerant views of a handful of campus members.” Smatresk also said the campus honored “our First Amendment rights” and encouraged students to “engage in open discourse, free expression, and debate.”NEW: the University of North Texas has issued a statement in response to outrage on campus regarding anti-trans flyers distributed by @YctUnt.