Texas’ child welfare agency told staffers to keep quiet about gender-affirming care investigations, documents show

Internal documents from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services show that the agency asked staffers to avoid written communications related to a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott to investigate families who provide gender-affirming care to their transgender teens. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

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The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services took rare steps — like instructing staffers to avoid written communications — to keep details of child abuse investigations related to gender-affirming care in secret, according to internal agency communications reviewed by The Texas Tribune.