Phil Helsel

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Texas judge temporarily blocks investigations into parents of transgender kids

A Texas judge on Friday issued an injunction against enforcement of the governor’s order to investigate gender-affirming care as child abuse, handing opponents of the policy a temporary victory. District Judge Amy Clark Meachum said that in issuing the Feb. 22 directive without a new state law or rule, Gov. Greg Abbott and officials’ actions “violate separation of powers by impermissibly encroaching into the legislative domain,” The Associated Pressreported. The state Legislature last year failed to pass a bill that would have made it a felony alongside physical and sexual abuse to provide gender-affirming care to minors. The American Civil Liberties Union, which was among those […]

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Transgender Woman Attacked in Portland in What May be Hate Crime

Three people, including a transgender woman, were attacked in Portland, Oregon, in what police say may be a bias crime. The assault happened in a downtown parking lot around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, and the assailants had fled by the time officers arrived, Portland police said in a statement. Atlas Marshall, who said she was attacked near some food carts, believes she was targeted because she is transgender, NBC affiliate KGW of Portland reported.  “He saw me, visibly could tell I was trans, I was queer, and he started throwing homophobic and transphobic slurs at me,” Marshall told the station. She said that […]