A United Methodist Insight Column
I don’t usually announce in advance how I’m going to vote, but my faith compels me to witness in advance of Texas’ March 2 primary: I’m going to vote for Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot. Although I was already inclined to vote for his re-election based on his stellar performance in office, DA Creuzot clinched my vote on the basis of this Feb. 22 headline in the Dallas Morning News:
Dallas DA John Creuzot bucks Abbott, Paxton and declines to prosecute families for trans youth care
Gov. Greg Abbot and Attorney General Ken Paxton have been waging war on transgender youths for over a year now. In the article, Krista M. Torralva wrote:
“On Monday, Paxton issued an opinion that said certain types of medical care for trans youth are a form of child abuse. On Tuesday, Abbott ordered state agencies to open child-abuse investigations into reports of children receiving gender-affirming procedures.”
If anyone ought to be prosecuted for child abuse, it’s Abbott and Paxton.
Families and friends of trans youths in Texas have been watching anxiously as misguided state officials have waged an assault on children experiencing gender dysphoria to keep them from the medical and psychological treatment they need and deserve. It was bad enough when Abbott pressed the Texas Legislature to pass a state law barring trans youth from playing on their gender identity, limiting them to play on sports teams corresponding to the sex assigned at birth. Now the governor and attorney general have gone so far as to pursue active prosecution against families that are only trying to care for their children as they see fit.
And yes, Texas is the same state that has effectively outlawed women’s right to reproductive health by enacting a law that restricts abortion to a period of six weeks’ gestation, often before a woman knows she’s pregnant.
These actions not only violate people’s constitutional rights, they violate the love of God. Neither Abbott nor Paxton apparently has any clue of the agonizing ethical and emotional choices involved in getting proper care for a transgender child. Neither of them has ever held a teen-ager weeping in agony because she or he has a gender identity other than that assigned at birth by their physical characteristics. Neither Paxton nor Abbot apparently understands what a parent goes through when a transgender child struggles with the emotional toll such a situation causes. Anyone who can callously ignore these life crises in favor of a political ideology that clearly opposes God’s love isn’t fit to hold office, in this voter’s opinion.
John Creuzot
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot is refusing to prosecute families of transgender children who seek gender care. (Dallas County District Attorney Office Photo)
That’s why John Creuzot gets my vote. On the eve of the primary election when he faces a challenger, Creuzot has the courage to stand up for trans youth, their parents, and friends who want only the best for them. The state has no business interfering in anyone's medical affairs, but it does so to an egregious extent in Texas. I’m joined in my estimation by the following statement issued by the Reconciling United Methodist Churches and Campus Ministries of North Texas.
Statement on Gender-affirming Care
“To Our Trans Members and Friends from Reconciling United Methodist and Allies in North Texas:
“We stand in solidarity with our trans siblings, their parents and families, in affirming God’s love for all who have chosen, just as they would for any child, to provide life-giving, affirming healthcare. We offer our prayers for those who are being further terrorized and intimidated by government pronouncements that seek to restrict freedom of choice in matters of health and attack personal integrity in matters of identity. To our trans siblings, their families and allies, please know that you are not alone: our churches stand open to you as sanctuaries of refuge and affirming grace. The God of life and light, who is beyond gender and inclusive of all, loves you. We, who represent a rainbow of colors, gender expressions, and sexual orientations, love you. And, in God’s love, we will continue to be with you on your journey toward and through wholeness.”
I’m also endorsing the recommendations of the Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Moore, lead pastor of St. Stephen UMC in Mesquite, Texas, where I'm a member: “As a church of Jesus Christ we are called to love our neighbor and to be advocates of justice. As a Reconciling Church in North Texas we have chosen to focus our energy on providing justice for and alongside our members and neighbors in the LGBTQIA+ community. The church is called for such a time as this.
“… I urge us as a church to craft ways to support and affirm the dignity and humanity of our transgender members and neighbors. Do we need to provide a space and hospitality for people to meet? … How is God leading us to care for our neighbors at this moment? Let us discuss our discernment in the coming days as we journey into Lent and follow God into the future, a future where all people are loved and welcomed to God's communion table.”
I think Pastor Geoffrey’s words offer guidance for all United Methodist congregations on many fronts. Our baptismal vows commit us to “accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” Now is the time for us to seek ways to witness visibly to the love and justice of God through Jesus Christ. We must do this for our transgender siblings and children, for the people of Ukraine, for women deserving reproductive justice – indeed for anyone who is vulnerable to tyranny by authoritarian forces that deny God’s love.
Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.