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.
Texas Agency Aimed for Secrecy on Probes of Trans-Supportive Parents
Employees of Texas’s child welfare agency were told to avoid written communications and take other steps to maintain secrecy about investigations of parents who allow their transgender children to receive gender-affirming care.The investigations began after Gov.
Greg Abbott ordered them in February, based on a nonbinding legal opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton that allowing kids access to such care is child abuse.
Both are far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans. Scientists have said the opinion was based on faulty and biased information, and LGBTQ+ activists have condemned the “child abuse” characterization.
The order is partially blocked while a lawsuit against it proceeds.Supervisors with the Department of Family and Protective Services ordered workers not to send emails or text messages about the probes, an unusual move since the department usually documents everything carefully, The Texas Tribune reports.
