Texas Attorney General Refuses to Answer if He Believes Transgender Children Exist

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At a press conference Wednesday afternoon announcing an eleven-state lawsuit against the federal government, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had a hard time coming up with an answer to a simple question. Paxton, who initiated the lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s right to issue guidance to protect transgender students from discrimination, was asked if he even believes transgender students exist.

He refused to give a direct answer.

Nathaniel Miller, reporter for the Odessa American, immortalized the Texas Republican’s inability to deliver an honest response in this tweet:

He was also asked if transgender students deserve to be protected:

Paxton also came up short on another key issue surrounding his federal lawsuit: Do transgender people commit sexual assault at a rate higher than non-transgender people. Texas Observer editor Andrea Grimes asked that question, and was told, “I don’t know.”

It would seem an important point.

Paxton was also asked how much the federal lawsuit would cost the people of Texas. “The cost of defending the Constitution is always worth it,” he responded, adding he did not know that, either. 

Asked how many school districts have expressed concern about transgender students to him, Paxton also seemed to not know the answer, responding, “I’d rather not say.” 

“Pressed about whether he knew of any instances in which a child’s safety had been threatened because of transgender bathroom rights, Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said ‘there’s not a lot of research,'” Fox 34 reports. “He said he his office has heard from concerned parents, but didn’t say how many, and said he did not meet with any parents of transgender students before filing the lawsuit.”

So, in summary, Ken Paxton is suing the federal government over an issue which he is grossly unfamiliar, has not spoken with people who will be directly impacted by his lawsuit, has not done any fact-finding on key issues, and does not even know if the people he is suing so he can continue to discriminate against them exist. 

Here’s video of the first few minutes of Paxton’s press event: