A trans investigator was asked to interrogate the parents of a trans kid in Texas. He resigned.

[Davie]

 He came out as trans. Then Texas had him investigate parents of trans kids.

A trans investigator was asked to interrogate the parents of a trans kid in Texas. He resigned.

The day after Governor Greg Abbott's order to investigate families with transgender kids, he was assigned the very first case. 

 

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/09/trans-investigator-asked-interrogate-parents-trans-kid-texas-resigned/

 

[VickySGV]

He ended up doing the right thing.  Whether he should have recused himself to begin with - - I cannot make that judgment here.  To quote a meme I keep seeing "We feared the witches when it should have been their hunters and executioners we feared!"

[Jani]

I read that story elsewhere.  He was brave for trying to work within the system but in the end it failed him and all the parents being investigated.

 

 

[awkward-yet-sweet]

People need to know an essential truth:. You don't have to open the door and talk to CPS/DFS or any other flavor if "child police.". I don't believe all people who work for those departments are bad...some do it for the right reasons like the man in this article.  But if in doubt, tell them to get off your property.  In the USA, the 4th Amendment protects against warrantless searches, and the 5th Amendment protects against self-incrimination.  

 

FWIW - in my county, if a state employee shows up to bother, we can call the sheriff for help.  The sheriff is quite proactive about dealing with that sort of stuff.  Hopefully other sheriffs around the nation will do likewise.

[Marcie Jensen]

@awkward-yet-sweetYou make an excellent point, and one I'm sure applies in all states. 

 

I'm confused about something in the article, though and would appreciate some answers if anyone knows. THe article refers to governor Abbot's "order" as opposed to Texas law. My question is thus: is this actual TX law, or is it an executive order by the governor? Make no mistake, it's wrong either way; I mean who in their right mind would assume that trans children all live in abusive homes that require investigation? The question of law v. executive order raises raises more issues, though. Such as if it's state law, it can be challenged as unconstitutional federally. If it's an executive order, it can be challenged at both state and federal level as the executive branch cannot make laws, merely enforce them. 

 

IMHO, this whole thing stinks to high heaven and the only hero in it is the worker who resigned in protest. What a mess.

 

[Ivy]

18 minutes ago, Marcie Jensen said:

I mean who in their right mind would assume that trans children all live in abusive homes that require investigation?

They consider supporting your trans-kid to be abuse.

[KathyLauren]

1 hour ago, Marcie Jensen said:

The question of law v. executive order raises raises more issues, though. Such as if it's state law, it can be challenged as unconstitutional federally. If it's an executive order, it can be challenged at both state and federal level as the executive branch cannot make laws, merely enforce them. 

I am no expert.  But my understanding is that it is certainly not a law, and I don't believe it is an official executive order.  It is just an opinion of the governor about how existing law should be interpreted.  There may be a fine line between an opinion and an order, but I haven't heard anyone use the term "executive order".

[Heather Nicole]

1 hour ago, Marcie Jensen said:

I mean who in their right mind would assume that trans children all live in abusive homes that require investigation?

 

They don't believe trans really exists (just like they believe being gay is a choice), and therefore, in their warped minds, all trans kids must be a matter of the parent forcing them to transition.

 

With that crowd, it's all about deciding what you want to believe first (ie "trans isn't real"), and then inventing whatever story it takes to explain what they've already decided to believe.

[VickySGV]

It was an Opinion Of The (Elected) Attorney General, Ken Paxton, that under Texas Law the elements of care for a Trans child COULD constitute child endangerment and abuse and advised the Governor it was legal to investigate it as child abuse.  The opinion was requested by Abbot.

 

The Department of Child Protection is an Executive Department of the state, which falls under the Governor's executive authority to direct and give orders to.  I worked for a department of that nature in my State for 30 years where luckily our Governor was bright enough not to interfere in that way, but while the person in this article was  a Civil Service System person who is immune to the Governor's whims on employment, the department head was "owing" (a job to which the governor can appoint people outside the normal Civil Service system) to the governor for their job, and jumped without asking how high.  Under Civil Service, the orders of your department head do rule your life as a State / County employee and you do try to act fairly for the citizens you work for by your own oath of office.  You could be fired for refusing the order of your boss, but it would take a special process and would involve review of your work for more than the single refusal to perform an order. 

 

I was a State supervisor and know the Texas system in general since it follows the Pendleton Act structure of Federal Civil Service Law although even there they could fudge on some parts and make it rougher on the employee.  One of my biggest problems as a Supervisor though was to rein in what some of my people considered to be an order to go out and rough up the citizenry which did more harm than good.  I applaud the decision of the worker here.

[Marcie Jensen]

Thanks all, especially @VickySGV. You cleared this up for me in the way the article should have. I was a Federal Civil Service employee (DoD) for a number of years, so I am somewhat familiar with the Pendleton Act. As a Dod civil servant, I was subject to both that and the UCMJ. And, your point about how a supervisor can make things rough on an employee is well take.

 

My question was more centered on how to fight this rather than the effects on the employee, though. Who is a real hero here. As are his 15 coworkers who left for the same reason. 

 

The Texas AG was, it appears, very careful in choosing the word "COULD" when reporting on the child abuse issue. By doing so Paxton kept his hands clean so to speak and left the entire decision up to Abbott. That's the position of a moral coward. There is a huge difference legally between words like "could" and "may" as opposed to "Must," "shall," and "will do." I hope the voters in Texas see through this and vote the bums out in Novermber.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

I'm not sure about the system in Texas.  It sounds icky.  But in other places, like where I live, the county sheriff is an elected official with a LOT of power.  Here, we fought the state by simply having strong leadership locally, and the force to back it up.  State officials who don't present themselves at the sheriff's office first and ask permission get reported by our residents and escorted to the county line.  Our way or the highway. 

 

Interestingly enough, there are several states in the South where the only official who can arrest an elected sheriff is the county coroner.  In my county, that's my husband's mother.  Our sheriff is a frequent dinner guest at our home, and his fiancee is a good friend of my GF.  Even though our area is pretty conservative, there won't be any official oppression here. 

 

State-loving radicals of all stripes really dislike the people's ability to elect a county sheriff who is answerable directly to the voters.  State police and city police officials are appointed, and tend to retain power.  A sheriff must answer to the will of the people, and judges who are elected have to do so as well.  For those reasons, I believe that acting to make your local officials friendly toward liberty is the best defense against state and federal abuse. 

 

 

 

 

[Davie]

In conclusion:

Thanks to Abbott Texas had 5 of the worst mass shootings in US.
Thanks to Abbott Texas has the highest cop deaths in US.
Thanks to Abbott primary cause of death in children in Texas is gun violence.

Beto's lead in Texas is far more than "widening" over Abbott. Texas is DONE with non-working, liars, fraud-committing,  and emptied headed Republicans. Beto WILL WIN IN TEXAS.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

I'm glad not to live in Texas for a number of reasons.  Beto might improve things for LGBTQ+ folks, but I wouldn't pick him for anything else.  The news I read puts Abbott ahead of him, which means nobody really knows.  Typical of polls.  We'll find out in a month or so.