HOUSTON — A Houston-area mother has moved out of Texas with her family because of a new law that will stop her child from getting gender-affirming care.
On June 2, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 14, a bill that bars transgender kids from getting puberty blockers and hormone therapies, though the new law could face legal challenges before it takes effect on Sept. 1.
Texas joins over a dozen other states restricting transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapies and on rare occasions surgeries.
“We left Texas to support our child, but it shouldn’t be like that,” said Dr. Luisa Montoya, the mother of a 13-year-old trans boy.
It’s been a challenging road for Montoya and her family. KHOU 11 News first met the family in March when they were living in Kingwood. She and her children were the victims of harassment and assault because of the rainbow flag she hung outside her home in support of her son.
Montoya said her child first announced he was a boy as a toddler when she dressed him in a tutu.
“Our kid has been telling us since he was 2 years old, and he didn’t know what trans means, right? When you have a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old telling you his entire life, ‘I’m a boy. I’m a boy. I’m a boy.’ And the ignorance, as a parent, because even though I have a master's degree in clinical psychology I thought, I’m not going to talk about it. I’m not going to say it. Because then, if I say it, then he’s going to say, ‘Oh yeah I’m a trans child.’”
At about 9 years old she did listen when he told her this: “When God made me, and he grabbed the Play-Doh, he made a girl body, but he made a mistake Mom, and he grabbed the boy's brain and he put it there.”
After that she vowed to support him however she could. She contacted doctors and put her child in therapy. One year later, hormone replacement therapy began.
“We love him. We support him. We don’t want our child to be having suicidal ideations,” Montoya said.
But on Sept. 1, doctors won’t be allowed to provide similar gender-affirming care to minors in Texas because of SB 14.
This law goes against the advice of major medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Even so, Texas Children’s has announced it will phase out these therapies before the state ban takes effect on Sept. 1.
Montoya fears that if the treatments were to stop for her son, he might commit suicide which is why they decided to leave the state when the bill was coming down the pipeline.
Her fears are not unfounded. One report by the National Center for Transgender Equality surveyed 27,000 transgender people and found that 40% had attempted suicide which is almost nine times the average rate.
Dr. Montoya wants people to know that being trans wasn’t a choice for her son and that getting to the point of providing medical care took a full year of therapy.
“We all have been in therapy. So, the issue here is not that my child is confused.”
“That’s what people don’t understand you are also grieving your child. My little girl was gone. And my little girl never existed. And my little girl was only created in my mind. So, that was the difficult part… I had to let her go.”
Instead, Montoya embraced her son and now a new life outside of Texas.
“I’m going to do everything that it takes to support my kid. Even if I have to leave the US. I told him, ‘Even if we have to go to the moon… we will go for you.’”
Right now, the only thing that can stop SB 14 is the courts. The ACLU does plan to sue the state of Texas to fight the legislation.
“Transgender people have always been here and will always be here. No law can change that,” said Ash Hall, Policy & Advocacy Strategist at the ACLU of Texas, in a statement.
“The majority of Texans do not support harming trans kids or cutting off this life-saving health care. Our trans youth deserve a world where they can shine alongside their peers, and we will keep advocating for that world in and out of the courts.”
The ACLU has not announced a date that the lawsuit will be filed.