Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that two state government agencies are investigating after a jury returned a verdict against Jeffrey Younger, who was seeking full custody of his seven-year-old son, in part to rescue the boy from his mother’s plan to treat him with puberty-blocking hormones and “transition” him to a female.
Abbott addressed the controversy after Monday’s verdict, which gave Anne Georgulas sole custody of James and his twin brother Jude. Georgulas, who has been telling her son he was a girl since he was 3, supports giving hormones that would block his adolescence. She also wants the court to mandate that the boy’s father call James “Luna,” and according to Younger puts dresses, false eyelashes, hair glitter and makeup on the young boy.
“FYI the matter of 7 year old James Younger is being looked into by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services,” Abbott announced on Twitter Wednesday night.
The Texas governor’s tweet was followed by a response from Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who tweeted that the case is “horrifying & tragic.” He characterized the transitioning effort as “nothing less than child abuse.”
The judge in the case was to issue a ruling on the specifics of the jury’s decision Wednesday but delayed the decision until Thursday. Georgulas has asked that her ex-husband be ordered to attend counseling that supports transgenderism and to limit his overnight custody of the boys and require supervised visits if he fails to treat his son as a girl.
Witnesses during the trial testified that James identifies as a boy when in the presence of his father. Georgulas nevertheless enrolled him in kindergarten as “Luna,” he uses the girl’s bathroom, and classmates believe him to be female. There are currently no laws in Texas that prevent a legal guardian from giving a minor puberty blockers or hormones
October 26, 2019 update: Texas judge rules father CAN fight to stop his transgender son, 7, transiting to a girl