After Texas calls healthcare for trans kids 'child abuse,' families of color fight back: 'Our children are just like your children.'

• On February 22nd, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an authorization to prosecute parents of transgender youth if they give their child gender-affirming care.
• The order is one of many in recent years denying trans children healthcare and basic rights in the US.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an authorization on February 22nd, instructing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate and prosecute parents of transgender youth if they give their child gender-affirming care.

That authorization impacts families like Nandeen Herring's, whose son already faces obstacles navigating the world as a Black, transgender man.

"I have a Black man in the making, if you will, already trying to make his way with a scarlet letter all over his body," Herring, who lives in New Jersey, told Insider. "To be accused of abusing my child when the bottom line is telling me is that here we go again with this heteronormative mess."

Since 2020, an overwhelming amount of anti-transgender laws have been created that bar trans youth from competing in sports and receiving healthcare coverage.

Abbott took it a step further with his latest move, which includes investigating and prosecuting doctors who give gender-affirming care to trans children.

Abbott said medical procedures on transgender children "constitutes child abuse."

Parents of trans children of color and medical advocates told Insider they vehemently disagree.

"My child knows what they are, what they feel, and need, and there's no discussion," Herring said.

According to a UCLA report, 150,000 transgender youth in the United States and more than 54,000 transitioning transgender youth are at risk of losing access to gender-affirming medical care.

Advocates told Insider they see Abbott's move as another step toward criminalizing trans youth and their families.

"A lot of the educators, teachers, security resource officers, whoever are in these schools, have preconceived notions and can be racist and can be transphobic," Tea Sefer, associate director of policy at Advocates for Youth, told Insider. "There are all these incidences of not just punishing students for using the restroom that aligns with their gender, but also physically harassing, physically removing them from these places."

"He says, 'mama, I'm not choosing to be transgender. This is who I am.'"

Throughout Marsha Aizumi's son Aiden's childhood, he struggled with anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Aiden first came out as lesbian in middle school, but by his sophomore year of high school, he came out as trans.

Aizumi told Insider, all she knew to do was support him.

"He says, mama, I'm not choosing to be transgender. This is who I am," Aizumi told Insider. "So when I hear these things about states that are not allowing parents to get healthcare for their trans children, I always think that if my son didn't get help, not only would he have been suicidal, but I'm not even sure he would be here today."

As a Japanese American, Marsha said she could not find any available resources for her family when her son came out as transgender in 2009. She said in many Asian American households, there is a pressure to assimilate in the US. In these households, she said, an LGBTQ child can sometimes be treated as a source of shame for going against the grain.

"The shame it's not just the dishonor to yourself or your immediate family. It's to your extended family. It's to your ancestors. It's to your lineage," Aizumi said.

While the healthcare disparity between Asian Americans and white Americans is not as wide as it is for other communities of color, the disparity in mental health outcomes is vast. In 2017, suicide was the leading cause of death for Asian Americans ages 15 to 24, according to American Progress.

With the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, that number has continued to rise, according to the American Psychological Association.

"Our children are just like your children," Aizumi said. "They want to do good things in the world. My son wants to be able to go out and just be himself and not worry about being targeted in any way."

Marsha has written a book with her son, "Two Spirits, One Heart," where they detail their journey toward acceptance.

Her son, Aiden, has also spearheaded LGBTQ support networks within Asian American communities and is currently working at Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a national organization uniting families and allies with the LGBTQ community.

"I was listening to my child."

Herring's son came out to her at 7 years old and faced a lot of discrimination and bullying from teachers, classmates, and healthcare professionals over the next few years. The bullying became so bad that Herring moved her four sons from upstate New York to Philadelphia.

She told Insider she knew something was wrong when her son, who used to love school, refused to go anymore.

Herring's son is not alone. 38% of Black LGBTQ youth reported discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to The Trevor Project, with 52% also saying they faced discrimination due to their race. This is added to the rising number of Black trans people who are killed every year.

"Every individual is not just one thing, the intersectionality of every individual in this world is complex and beautiful," Herring said. "And thus why you may not understand it, that is not for you to question and place that burden on the individual that walks this world free."

Herring credits the Philadelphia Children's Hospital for finally helping her family feel safe

In contrast to the traumatic misnaming and misgendering of her child by teachers and other school staff members, she credits the hospital staff and mental health professionals for saving her and her four sons' lives.

But while Herring has benefited from the trans community at the hospital, she said she has had trouble explaining to white families of trans children about the obstacles her family faces concerning race and class.

Families like hers typically would not be able to access this type of lifesaving care, she said.

"I was listening to my child," Herring said. "I want for trans children to receive the healthcare that they deserve, just like their so-called heteronormative counterparts. We deserve the same."

The criminalization of trans youth of color.

The trans community feels the criminalization of their identity on a daily basis, Herring said.

Trans youth of color are more likely to be bullied and targeted by their teachers or peers at school, said Sefer, and they are usually punished along with the instigator. Trans youth of color are also twice as likely to be suspended compared to their white trans counterparts, according to a report by Glsen.

Students who are suspended are three times as likely to be arrested within a year of the incident, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I think it is not ironic that at the same time that critical race theory is being attacked in schools and that we're seeing this new wave of banning books and banning the accurate teaching of history — and I think, as is often seen in history, those young people in the most difficult margins are facing this disproportionately — so, those young trans kids of color who have disabilities have not been generally talked about, but are disproportionately represented in statistics around policing incarceration, bullying, and discrimination," Sefer said.

Herring has written a book titled "Life…According to Z," about her son's transition.

She said parents of trans or non-binary children of color continue to reach out to her out of fear on social media, and she offers resources and support as much as she can. She occasionally teaches workshops at schools in New Jersey to parents who have LGBTQ children about ways that they can advocate for their children without disrespecting them.

Herring said polls show that the public is against denying healthcare to transgender people.

Herring fears that while Texas is the only place currently investigating and prosecuting the parents of trans youth, other states will soon follow suit, despite the fact that the American public is against laws that restrict the rights of the transgender community.

"For the most part, parents of trans and non-binary kids know that the world is not safe for their child," Lillian Riveria, director of family programming at Gender Spectrum, told Insider. "They live with a lot of fear. I don't think they predicted or suspected that this could happen. But I think we're at a point historically in our nation where everything is possible."

Insider reached out to Gov. Abbott's office for comment but did not hear back.