<div> Susan and Brian are the proud parents of two children, a cis boy and a trans girl. Their daughter’s social transition has been very gradual, lasting more than three years. They have followed her lead at every step, showing her nothing but acceptance and support. Affirming their daughter came naturally, but it was also informed by guidance from pediatricians, writings by experts, and a consensus among professional organizations.  Texas’s Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton have declared affirming parents of trans children to be child abusers, subject to CPS investigation, criminal prosecution, and forced family separation. While the Paxton letter and guidance from Abbott mainly apply to medical interventions, which Susan and Brian’s daughter has not had and is unlikely to need for years to come, anyone who makes a claim about their family can trigger a CPS investigation.  Click <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/in-depth/2022/04/26/424023/trans-kids-and-families-are-leaving-texas-amid-state-efforts-to-charge-parents-with-child-abuse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>  to listen to a Texas Public Radio report that features their interview. At best, such an investigation would be extremely distressing. At worst, it could lead to their children being removed from their home, separating them from their loving parents, and to Susan and Brian being prosecuted. If their children were taken from them, their daughter would almost certainly be forcibly detransitioned, which would be a form of torture for her. The pain experienced by the entire family would be immeasurable and change their lives forever.  Additional anti-trans measures and laws continue to loom on the horizon, while affirming medical providers close one after another. The outlook for trans kids and their families in Texas grows darker almost every moment, with little hope for immediate solutions.  Despite having lived in Austin for 25 years and having close family members and countless friends in the city, Brian and Susan are currently planning to move to another state. While leaving the place that has been their home for most of their adult lives will be very difficult, it is more than worth it in order to keep their children safe.  The situation for affirming families of trans children in Texas is changing, sometimes rapidly. It’s likely that during the course of this fundraiser, rulings in court cases will change this situation in one way or another. This is also an election year, so election results may have some effect. Regardless of these developments, powerful conservative politicians in Texas will, without a doubt, continue to seek ways to terrorize trans kids and their affirming families, particularly when the legislature starts a new session in early 2023. For this reason, Susan and Brian are planning to leave Texas regardless of court challenges or the results of the 2022 election.  The funds raised from this campaign will be used to help Brian and Susan’s family with moving expenses, including relocation costs, fees to be paid for breaking their lease, replacing furniture and other necessary items in their new home, and other expenses related to their quest for a safe home. If the family becomes the subject of a spurious CPS report, resulting in a need for legal assistance, funds may be used toward legal expenses so that the family can remain together and then relocate when they are able to. Any funds remaining after these expenses are addressed will be redistributed either to specific affirming families in need or to nonprofits who are providing relocation expenses and/or legal aid to affirming families.  
</div>

<div>Please consider donating any amount to help defray the cost of moving for Susan, Brian and their children! Another way to help them is to share this campaign with friends and family. FAQ: Why are families of trans kids leaving Texas?  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a legal opinion in the form of a letter stating that affirming trans kids was a form of child abuse, and Governor Greg Abbott followed this with guidance to state agencies requiring them to apply this definition by pursuing CPS investigations of affirming families. Anti-trans legislators have also passed a law against trans children participating in sports and have proposed many other anti-trans legislation that would harm trans children, with more such legislation expected in Texas’s next legislative session beginning in early 2023. Governor Abbott and his staff have also applied pressure to affirming medical care providers, resulting in more than one clinic closure already. More closures are likely to follow.  Is it safe to affirm children who say they are trans? Experts in this area and major professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association agree that affirming parenting is the best course of action when children tell or show their parents that they are gender-creative or transgender. These experts and organizations also recommend affirming medical treatment when children reach the right age, with many protections in place to ensure they are used safely. Many anti-trans campaigners tell lies about affirming medical care for children, claiming that young children receive medical treatments, that such treatments are given too quickly and easily without safety checks, and that many children who receive such treatments regret them later in life. These claims are all completely false and stem from transphobic bias.  I thought a judge had thrown out the legal measures caused by the Paxton letter. Why are people still concerned? A temporary injunction was put in place in March of 2022 that enforced a pause on investigations of affirming families of trans children for a while, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled on May 13, 2022, that the injunction could only apply to the specific family represented in the case, not to families across Texas. They did not rule on the merits of the case, which will be considered by the Third Court of Appeals based in Austin. While trans rights advocates hope that future rulings may help with the current situation, there is no guarantee that legal remedies of this sort will protect affirming families. Even if a ruling put a permanent stop to this policy put into place because it was put in place through the Paxton letter and guidance from Abbott, if the same policy were put in place through legislation, it might be allowed. And other discriminatory laws have already been passed, with more being considered for the next legislative session.  I thought the Paxton letter only applied to medical treatment. Why are families of children who don’t receive affirming medical care still concerned?  Any family who is reported to the state as affirming their trans child could be investigated by CPS, with all of the potential consequences that brings. Myths and misinformation about affirming parenting and medical treatment abound, so some people may report families because they believe false claims about medical treatment of younger children. There is also a great deal of confusion about what is considered a medical intervention. While this is often taken to refer to medications or to surgeries (which are typically only done after trans kids become legal adults), taking a trans child to see a therapist or visiting with a specialist, such as an endocrinologist, to learn about future treatment options and their implications could both be considered by some to be medical treatment. Meanwhile, the Paxton letter has led to the closure of some affirming medical providers in the state already, following at least one major provider that was pressured to close by Governor Abbott and his staff before the letter was even released. Children in Texas who do not need medical treatment now are becoming less and less likely to have access to that treatment years from now when they do need it.  What are the risks involved in a CPS investigation if a family experiences one?  CPS investigations are inherently distressing. Some cases can be approached using something called “alternative response” which is less invasive and used in cases where children do not appear to be in immediate danger. Governor Abbott’s guidance to state agencies has specified that alternative response is never to be used in cases against affirming parents of trans children–only fully investigations are acceptable. These cases are also supposed to be pursued without the normal level of documentation, lending them a disturbing level of secrecy. Affirming parents who were investigated before the Paxton letter have reported extremely distressing investigations, including children being pulled out of class to be interviewed without their parents present and, of course, the threat of family separation. Risks after the letter are undoubtedly higher. There are no known cases of a family having their children removed due to an investigation following the Paxton letter, but this appears to be due to the fact that these investigations simply haven’t been concluded yet. Such investigations could easily lead to children being removed from safe and loving homes, parents being prosecuted, and trans children being forcibly detransitioned. These risks are very real. Families are also unable to avoid these investigations by fleeing to another state–court orders, extradition, and other means can be used to get to these families no matter where they go. So once an investigation begins, it may already be too late for parents to avoid the worst of consequences. An investigation alone could be somewhat traumatic for trans kids and their siblings. Being torn from safe and loving families would be even more traumatic. And forcibly detransitioning trans kids, as would undoubtedly be the next step after family separation, would be irreparably harmful.  <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/65112965_1652619963331492_r.jpeg" alt="65112965_1652619963331492_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />
</div>

<div><img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/65112965_1652546186905923_r.jpeg" alt="65112965_1652546186905923_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />
</div>

Anonymous

Joshua Krauter

Kristy Sorensen

Allison Anderman

Jennifer Kryska

Shirley Russell

Elizabeth Conner

Katherine Everett

Eileen Brennan

Sara Scott

Kimberly Hutchinson

Bruce Kellison

Kiley Edgley

Brandy Credeur

Aaron Russell

Joseph Haefner

George Plunkett

Help Family Leave Texas to Keep Trans Child Safe

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Family Leave Texas to Keep Trans Child Safe

Still $2,728 to go. Help us build momentum.