Texas father blocked from stopping gender transition of son James, 7, to girl called Luna

A jury in Texas returned a verdict on Monday that will prevent a Texas dad from intervening in the gender transition of his 7-year-old son.

Jeffrey Younger had petitioned a court in Texas to grant him sole custody of his twin sons, James and Jude, in part to avoid a plan to infuse James with female hormones. James, who would like to be called Luna, has been the center of controversy in the heated debate among his parents and others.

Anne Georgulas, the mother of the two boys, has advocated for James to transition into Luna and has strongly backed the idea of chemically castrating her son and beginning hormone replacement therapy. The ruling on Wednesday will prevent Jeffrey from having sole custody of his children and paves the way for Georgulas to proceed with the procedure.

The court has ruled that Georgulas will maintain sole custody of her two children and go forward with plans to give James life-altering medical procedures. Her original court filing had sought to limit her ex-husband’s visits with their children and require that he now refer to James as Luna. She further asked that Jeffrey not be exposed to any people who would not confirm his female identity.

Expert witnesses expressed doubt that James was fully convinced that he was inherently female in testimony last week. “There is still some fluidity in his thinking,” said Dr. Benjamin Albritton in sworn testimony. “Neither child appears to be depressed, anxious or aggressive … He [James] gave no indications of other significant psychological difficulties.”

There are no laws currently preventing a legal guardian from giving a minor puberty blockers or hormones. Georgulas has additionally secured a letter of recommendation for transition for James from a woman associated with a gay children’s therapy center. “This is a letter of recommendation that my client, James Younger, aka Luna, begin the process of becoming a patient of the GENECIS clinic so that she can receive a full psychological assessment for gender dysphoria and potentially take hormone blockers,” said a letter from Rebekka Ouer from Dallas Rainbow Therapy.

UPDATE: GOP Texas Governor Gregg Abbott announced on Wednesday that the case of James Younger was being “looked into by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.”

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy shared a letter on Thursday expressing his concern to US Attorney General William Barr. “A 7-year-old shouldn’t be subjected to barbaric medical procedures because of an irresponsible adult. Read my letter to @TheJusticeDept AG Barr, @ONDCP Director Carroll, And @NIH Director Collins regarding forced medical treatments for gender dysphoria in young children,” he said in a tweet a long with a copy of the letter.