This Mom and Her Transgender Son Invited Texas AG Ken Paxton to Dinner. He Said Yes.

Earlier this week, a federal judge sided with Texas’ request to block a federal directive for schools to accommodate the bathroom choices of transgender students. Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was pleased – but not surprised – by the court’s order, and subsequently filed suit to remove discrimination protections against health insurers.

The Human Rights Campaign, among others, blasted that move as shameful, cheap and political. Others have been far more harsh in their assessments – both of Paxton and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who says he’s not sure he’s ever known a transgender person.

But a few months ago, Amber Briggle, the mother of an eight-year-old transgender boy from Denton, spoke at a news conference. She directed comments at Paxton and Patrick, taking a markedly different approach and tone. She called it an opportunity, and invited Paxton to dinner.

Ken Paxton told a Dallas TV reporter he’s up for it, and dinner plans are now in the works. Briggle says she hopes the dinner will show the attorney general that transgender children like her son are kids trying to be normal kids.

Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/this-mother-and-her-transgender-son-invited-ken-paxton-to-dinner-and-he-accepted/