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The suit comes two weeks after Paxton, known for his anti-LGBTQ+ views, filed the first case in the nation.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued a second doctor alleging a violation of the state’s law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
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Paxton filed suit Wednesday in Kaufman County, Texas, District Court, against Hector Granados, MD, who practices in El Paso.
Granados “is a scofflaw who is harming the health and safety of Texas children by providing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for the purpose of transitioning their biological sex or affirming their belief that their gender identity or sex is inconsistent with their biological sex in violation of [the ban] and falsifying medical records, prescriptions, and billing records to intentionally conceal the unlawful conduct,” which violates Texas law governing business and commerce, the suit reads.
“Growing scientific evidence strongly suggests that ‘gender transition’ interventions prescribed to or performed on children in an attempt to anatomically or hormonally alter their biological sex characteristics have damaging, long-term consequences,” a press release from Paxton’s office claims. “Additionally, the prohibited treatments are experimental, and no scientific evidence supports their supposed benefits.”
However, this is not true. These treatments are not experimental, and they have proven benefits — they are often lifesaving. This care is endorsed by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and every other major medical group in the U.S.
Two weeks ago, Paxton, a Republican, sued May C. Lau, MD, a Dallas-based physician, over violation of the law. It was the first such suit in the nation.
Gov. Greg Abbott, like Paxton an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican, signed the ban into law last year. It was recently upheld in court. It allows the Texas Medical Board to revoke the license of any doctor who violates it.
Paxton is also infamous for his 2022 legal opinion declaring that parents who allow their minor children to receive gender transition care are committing child abuse. Abbott agreed and directed the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate these families. The directive has been challenged in court, and in March a Texas appeals court upheld injunctions blocking the investigations.
Still, Paxton remains committed to stopping this care. “Texas is cracking down on doctors illegally prescribing dangerous ‘gender transition’ drugs to children,” he said in the press release. “State law forbids prescribing these interventions to minors because they have irreversible and damaging effects. Any physician found doing so will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The Advocate has sought comment from Granados but has yet to receive a response.
