Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against a medical provider for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to minors in violation of S.B. 14, the states ban on such care for minors.Paxton filed a lawsuit against Dr. May C. Lau, a medical provider at Chidrens Hospital in Dallas, for allegedly prescribing hormone replacement therapy to at least 21 minors between October 2023 and last August. Lau allegedly used false diagnoses and billing codes to mask these unlawful prescriptions, the lawsuit states. Lau may lose her medical license if the lawsuit succeeds. Related These 4 trans-related Supreme Court cases affect everyones future civil rights While the cases focus on drag bans and trans protections, they address larger issues of free speech and civil rights. Paxtons lawsuit falsely refers to gender-affirming care as dangerous and experimental medical procedures. A press release from his officealso claims that theres no scientific evidence supports [the] supposed benefits of gender-affirming medication this, too, is a lie. Stay connected to your community Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The medications used in such care have been used safely in children for decades for the purposes of gender transition and to treat other medical issues in cisgender children. In fact, Texas law stands in opposition to the best care practices for treating gender dysphoria recommended by every major American medical association. These associations agree that such care is safe, effective, and essential for the overall well-being of trans people.Although the Texas Supreme Court, whose judges are elected officials, upheld the states ban in an 8-1 ruling last June, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has opposed a similar ban passed in 2023 by the Tennessee legislature.The DOJs lawsuit will likely be argued this December or in January 2025 in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. The court will likely issue a ruling in June or early July 2025. The laws are inflicting profound harms on transgender adolescents and their families by denying medical treatments that the affected adolescents, their parents, their doctors, and medical experts have all concluded are appropriate and necessary to treat a serious medical condition, the DOJ wrote in court filings.Paxton has a long history of opposing gender-affirming care. In February 2022, he issued anon-binding opinioncalling gender-affirming health care a form of child abuse. Childrens Hospital in Dallas stopped providing gender-affirming care to trans youth that year in response.Soon after issuing his order, several employees with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)quit, andsome state attorneys refusedto enforce his opinion by investigating families that provide gender-affirming care to their trans children. The Texas Supreme Court ruled that neither Abbott nor Paxton had the authority to issue the order. Several families with trans children also filed a lawsuit against Abbott. The presiding district judge in the lawsuit issued a temporary restraining order against any such DFPS investigations.Paxton also demanded out-of-state hospitals and PFLAG, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, turn over records related to the families of trans youth seeking gender-affirming care. Both groups successfully opposed Paxtons efforts.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.