Texas Removed an L.G.B.T.Q. Resource Page After a Candidate Complained

The State of Texas removed a web leafage that offered resources to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender younker aft 1 of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Republican superior challengers said its contented was “offensive” and retired of enactment with “Texas values.”

The removal occurred soon aft the candidate, Don Huffines, denounced the website in a video that helium shared connected Twitter.

“They are promoting transgender intersexual policies to Texas youth,” Mr. Huffines said. “I mean, really? This is Texas. These are not Texas values. These are not Republican Party values. But these are evidently Greg Abbott’s values.”

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, said the leafage was removed from the department’s website six weeks agone “as portion of a review.”

But the determination to disable the leafage received broader attraction this week after The Houston Chronicle reported connected interior bureau emails that showed that officials were disquieted astir Mr. Huffines’s comments.

Mr. Huffines, a erstwhile authorities legislator from Dallas and the proprietor of a existent property improvement company, announced successful May that helium would situation Mr. Abbott successful the Republican superior adjacent March and has touted himself arsenic the much blimpish candidate. Mr. Abbott is seeking a 3rd term.

“FYI. This is starting to stroke up connected Twitter,” 1 section official, Marissa Gonzales, wrote connected the time that Mr. Huffines posted the video, according to copies of the emails that the bureau provided to The New York Times.

Ms. Gonzales, a spokeswoman for the agency, said successful the email that Mr. Huffines was referring to a web leafage for a programme called Texas Youth Connection. The leafage provided online resources for children and teenagers successful authorities care, and it had a conception titled “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation.”

“Please enactment we whitethorn request to instrumentality that leafage down, oregon someway revise content,” Mr. Crimmins wrote to bureau officials.

On Sept. 1, the agency’s communications manager sent an email to the webmaster explaining that “the Texas Youth Connection (TYC) website has been temporarily disabled for a broad reappraisal of its content.”

“This is being done to guarantee that its information, resources and referrals are current,” the email stated.

Mr. Abbott’s bureau did not respond to messages for comment.

The leafage was taken down little than a period earlier parents of transgender children protested successful the Texas Capitol successful Austin, wherever the State Senate has repeatedly passed bills to necessitate transgender teenage and kid athletes to vie according to their enactment assigned astatine commencement alternatively than their sex identity.

The determination to instrumentality down the web leafage infuriated L.G.B.T.Q. rights activists and organizations, who accused Mr. Abbott of prioritizing his governmental interests implicit the information and well-being of marginalized young people.

“State agencies cognize that LGBTQ+ kids are overrepresented successful foster attraction and they cognize they look genuinely staggering favoritism and abuse,” Ricardo Martinez, the main enforcement of Equality Texas, a rights group, said successful a statement. “The authorities is liable for these kids’ lives, yet it actively took distant a assets for them erstwhile they are successful crisis.”

Mr. Martinez said that the tract was taken down astatine the commencement of Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. He cited statistics from the Trevor Project, which provides situation involution and termination prevention services to L.G.B.T.Q. youth, that showed that gay, transgender and nonbinary young radical who person been successful foster attraction were overmuch much apt to effort suicide.

“Again and again this year,” helium added, “we are simply asking that these kids’ lives not beryllium politicized.”

Before it was taken down, the Texas Youth Connection leafage provided interaction accusation for organizations and hotlines that could assistance L.G.B.T.Q. younker who were feeling depressed, bullied oregon suicidal, according to screenshots of the pages that the bureau provided. The conception connected “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation” was 3 pages agelong and included a photograph of smiling young radical holding a rainbow flag.

“The acquisition and enactment resources connected this leafage are dedicated to helping empower and observe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, state and non-heterosexual (LGBTQIA+) youth, their peers and family,” the tract said. “Having enactment and resources is captious successful addressing the needs of younker and young adults.”

On Thursday, the Department of Family and Protective Services still had a nexus to a 2019 webinar that discussed however inequities successful kid payment systems disproportionately affected L.G.B.T.Q. youths and children of color.