TX: Ken Paxton Sought a List of Trans People in the State
It is difficult to think of a benign reason why the extremely anti-trans attorney general of Texas would need a list of ordinary people who’d recieved an updated gender marker on their drivers’ license.
by Evan Urquhart
How alarmed should trans people be about news that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reportedly sought a list of the names of every trans person who’d changed their gender marker on a drivers license in the past year? Paxton didn’t succeed, and he’s facing massive blowback now that the Washington Post has broken the story. However, I’d still say: PRETTY DANG ALARMED.
The Texas AG first made national headlines for his targeting of trans people in February, when he announced that gender affirming treatments such as puberty blockers should be considered child abuse by Texas authorities. Thus began a story that has unfolded over many months: AG Paxton and the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, initiated child welfare investigations into families in Texas who had affirmed their transgender kids. Under threat of CPS investigation, and fearing the loss of their children, some Texas families have even fled the state. It seems necessary to ask: If Paxton and Abbot have already shown they’re willing to break families apart, is there any limit to what they’re capable of doing to trans folks?
I’ve always felt it’s important to balance alarmism with common sense, and seek to give trans people reasonable scenarios representing the best and worst case, along with prudent advice. For example, while I am concerned about the growing fascist movement on the right, I’ve always said the US is years away from a full fascist takeover becoming a serious possibility, and there are many things that could disrupt that trajectory before it ever comes to pass. I think trans people should be vigilant and not discount extremely negative possible outcomes, but that we should also be realistic in those fears.
However, a politician attempting to compile a list of ordinary citizens who are members of a targeted minority group is, to my knowledge, unprecedented. While politicians use voter data which is sometimes micro-targeted and used to suppress turnout for minorities, this exists on a different level from that. It’s freaking bad. It’s almost impossible to imagine a benign use Ken Paxton—or any politician—could have for such a list. Vote suppression is perhaps the least bad use I, personally, can imagine. (The worst I can imagine would be if Paxton shared the list with others in his party and it somehow found its way into the hands of extremist groups.)
Ultimately, we can’t know what the AG intended to do after he’d obtained a list of people who’d made a drivers license gender marker change. However, his willingness to go outside of normal channels and make such a request is alarming in the extreme. Also alarming that the request was seriously considered—apparently what prevented the list from being compiled was the difficulties encountered when attempting to draw it up. All of this is evidence of a breakdown in the restraints that we expect to operate on politicians, and the crisis that is threatening to turn the flawed system we are used to into something so much worse. Trans people in states where conservatives hold a lot of power should, at a minimum, work on forming closer bonds with their community, seek out communal living arrangements to keep one another safe, or consider moving if possible. Trans people in states with less danger should look for ways to help those in conservative states find safety, and consider whether leaving the country is a possibility, or what else would be, if the federal government were taken over by extremists and blue states did not remain comparitively safe.