A freshman state lawmaker is proposing a measure to stop adults from socially transitioning Texas children.
“The Save James Act is designed to put the final nail in the coffin of the child gender transition industry in Texas,” said State Rep. David Lowe (R–North Richland Hills).
Lowe named the act after James Younger, a Texas boy who made national headlines when he was “transitioned” by his mother against his father’s will. The woman began forcing James to dress and act like a girl when the boy was a toddler.
“I gave his father my word that I would fight to make sure that this does not happen to anyone else,” Lowe said in a video introducing his proposed legislation.
The boy’s father, Jeff Younger, fought in court for years to save James from his ex-wife’s social and medical “transitioning” of his son.
Younger even ran for the state legislature in hopes of working to ban the practices.
In December 2022, Younger’s hopes were dashed when the Texas Supreme Court allowed the boy’s mother and her partner to move James and his twin brother to California, where they put James on a path to surgical castration.
A year earlier, in 2021, the Republican-majority Texas Legislature had failed to pass a bill that would have protected children from abusive adults and the lucrative “gender transition” industry.
Although it came too late for James, in 2023, state lawmakers finally banned doctors from giving minors sterilizing drugs or mutilative surgeries for “sex reassignment” or treating gender confusion.
“The Save James Act would criminalize the social gender transition of children,” said Lowe. “This includes the use of pronouns, forcing them to wear clothes of the opposite sex, and living a lie.”
Lowe told Texas Scorecard that the Legislative Council is still drafting the measure, but he said it would make socially transitioning children a state jail felony.
Jeff Younger endorsed Lowe’s proposal.
“Pass the Save James Act,” Younger posted on X. “If David Lowe had been in office in previous sessions – my son James would be safe.”
The regular session of the 89th Legislature is underway now through June 2.
