Story at a glance
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) on Friday again referred to Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, who is a transgender woman, as a man.
- Paxton in a statement complained that Twitter had flagged his prior tweet misgendering Levine, who is one of USA Today’s “Women of the Year,” as hateful, disabling likes and comments on the post.
- Paxton has been a vocal critic of the transgender community, and in February said some types of gender-affirming care provided to minors constituted as child abuse.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon (R) on Friday doubled down on comments made Thursday in which he called Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, who is a transgender woman, a man after she was named one of USA Today’s “Women of the Year.”
“Yesterday I stated an irrefutable scientific fact: Rachel Levin is a man,” Paxton wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “I pointed this out after USA Today named him “Woman” of the Year. But Levine is not a woman. He has one X and one Y chromosome and other male-sex characteristics.”
“I just follow the science,” he added.
On Thursday, Paxton posted a screenshot of a USA Today announcement naming Levine as one of its “Women of the Year,” writing: “Rachel Levine is a man.”
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Paxton has been a vocal critic of the transgender community, and in February authored a highly publicized opinion in which he claimed that some types of gender-affirming care for trans or nonbinary youth amounted to “abuse” under his interpretation of Texas law. Soon after, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered state agencies to investigate reports of minors receiving gender-affirming care as child abuse.
A Texas judge late last week issued an injunction halting the state’s investigation into parents who allow their children to receive gender-affirming treatment, though an appeal was almost immediately filed by Paxton.
“Thankfully, Democrat judge’s order permitting child abuse is frozen,” he wrote on Twitter after filing his appeal. “Much-needed investigations proceed as they should. This fight will continue up to the Supreme Court. I’m ready for it.”
Paxton on Friday complained that his tweet misgendering Levine had been flagged by Twitter as “hateful,” claiming that “Big Tech” is leading a virtual crusade against conservative voices.
“Users can now only access my statement through a trigger-warning filter,” Paxton wrote. “And even then, users can neither like it nor comment on it. At the same time, hundreds of other verified accounts saying the exact same thing remain untouched and unfiltered.”
“This whole insane episode represents a two-pronged attack from the left – both of which I’m vigorously fighting against,” he added. “First is the left’s war against human biology, and especially against women. Second is their weaponization of Big Tech against conservative voices.”
Paxton then accused platforms like Twitter of being not only “anti-Republican,” but also “anti-truth and anti-science.”
Paxton said he is exploring legal options to “stop their one-sided censorship.”
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