Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Ken Paxton told therapists to stop affirming trans patients. Here's why they shouldn't listen.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/04/ken-paxton-told-therapists-to-stop-affirming-trans-patients-heres-why-they-shouldnt-listen/

Molly Sprayregen (1 April 2026)

On March 2, the viciously anti-trans attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, released an opinion saying it's illegal for mental health care providers in the state to affirm trans youth. He said the gender-affirming care ban already in place in the state applies to mental health care, too, going so far as to call it "child abuse" to affirm trans youth who confide in trusted adults.

"This opinion should send a clear warning," Paxton said in a statement at the time, "there will be consequences for any medical professional, whether a doctor or a therapist, who is illegally 'transitioning' Texas kids."

But here's the wrench in Paxton's nefarious threat: His opinion – even when issued with an official seal – doesn't actually change the law.

"People are taking this opinion as fact, as Ken Paxton altering the law or reinterpreting the law to suit his whims," Naveen Farrani, strategic Communications Manager for Equality Texas, told LGBTQ Nation. "He does not have the jurisdiction to do that."

Of course, most lay people (including journalists) can't always grasp the nuances of political bureaucracy and parse the difference between an opinion, a law, a ruling, and the like. The opinion has thus caused a fury of confusion, fear, and misinformation, which is more than likely exactly what Paxton wanted.

"He has an agenda against trans folks... This is just an opportunity for him to make a political position to frighten people."

And it's working. Farrani said frantic mental health care providers have reached out to Equality Texas to ask whether they are still allowed to support their trans patients. They know of one therapist who has already dropped a trans patient rather than risk legal repercussions.

People are "complying in advance," Farrani emphasized. 

If Colorado's ban on conversion therapy can be overturned on First Amendment grounds, then making this opinion have the force of law must be overturned on the same grounds.  Anything less would be an admission of corruption in the courts.

Opinions are like buttholes; everyone has one, they usually stink, and are the source of all... unpleasantness.

People treat these "opinions" as legally binding when they are not. Like Executive Orders, they are only guidelines that apply to subordinate offices. Presidential Executive Orders are not laws. They apply only to Executive Branch government agencies, not to private corporations or citizens.

Attorney General opinions at the state and federal levels only tell subordinate offices how to interpret policy. Policies are not laws either.

Only Congress has the authority to make laws, and only the courts have the authority to interpret them. The courts cannot make laws either. The Executive Branch only has authority to enforce laws passed by Congress. When they step outside their authority, the courts rule the action as "unconstitutional" or "illegal".

It doesn't stop them from trying, though. The courts have ruled against the Trump Administration numerous times, and yet they continue because no one will arrest them and put them in jail, like they would if you or I were to pull the same stunts.

Ken Paxton is an aspiring authoritarian who feels emboldened by Trump's "success." They both know that laws exist, but they like to believe that laws don't apply to them. And they assume that it would take time for the legal system to catch up with them, and until then many people will be intimidated and comply in advance.

He should already be in prison for the crimes he's committed as AG of Texas, but - as with Trump - the republicans in the Texas senate declined to convict him. We have a serious accountability problem in this country.

Quote from: Pema on Today at 02:30:54 PMWe have a serious accountability problem in this country.

That is the heart of it right there.