- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
In Texas, probes target parents of transgender minors
Parents of transgender American minors are under investigation in Texas as part of a controversial new order by conservative Governor Greg Abbott, who has deemed the transitioning procedures "child abuse," according to a complaint filed Tuesday.
The mother of a transgender teen was suspended by her employer, a Texas family services agency, and visited by a Child Protective Services investigator who was seeking to learn whether the 16-year-old daughter was "currently transitioning from male to female," the court document said.
The family, backed by the powerful US civil rights organization ACLU, took legal action to block Abbott's probe, and more broadly to invalidate his directive on the issue from February 22.
Abbott's letter to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), published in the middle of an election campaign, states that "'sex change' procedures constitute child abuse under existing Texas law."
He cites reassignment surgeries that he says can cause sterilization and mastectomies, and mentions puberty blockers which slow the body's changes during adolescence.
The DFPS is duty bound to "investigate the parents of a child who is subjected to these abusive gender-transitioning procedures," the Republican governor writes.
The unidentified plaintiffs in the petition against the initial investigation said their family has suffered anxiety and fear, and that their daughter has been "traumatized" by the prospect that she "could lose access to the medical treatment that has enabled her to thrive."
The family was joined in their complaint by a licensed psychologist with many LGBT and transgender clients, who expressed concern that the Abbott directive would force her to report those clients to authorities.
Such care to transgender minors, much like participation by transgender athletes in sports competitions or the use of toilets according to the gender with which they identify, is the subject of extensive debate in the United States, where many conservative states have moved to adopt restrictive regulations.
S.F.Warren--AMWN