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.
LGBTQ Agenda: Fallout from Abbott, Paxton letters sows confusion for trans people in Texas
Agencies in Texas that serve trans children and youth say that they will keep providing services in spite of a letter from Governor Greg Abbott ordering state agencies to investigate gender-affirming care on minors as child abuse.On February 22, Abbott — a Republican who is running for reelection — sent a letter to Jaime Masters, commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, calling on the agency to "conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the state of Texas." The letter followed an opinion issued the previous week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), in which he equated treatment for trans kids with child abuse, going so far as to suggest that children whose parents approve such procedures are victims of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy, where "an alleged perpetrator ...
attempts to gain medical procedures and issues for [their] child for secondary gain for themselves..."Paxton, too, is running for reelection.The opinion was a response to inquiries from state Representative Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) in which he asked, "whether the performance of certain medical and chemical procedures on children — several of which have the effect of sterilization — constitute child abuse."Krause, who is running for Tarrant County district attorney, is notoriously anti-LGBTQ and has authored previous attempts to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ Texans in the past.
