Texas removes suicide hotline from LGBTQ site because it could hurt GOP governor’s reelection

Photo: Twitter/Greg Abbott

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) quietly removed information intended to help prevent LGBTQ youth suicide from one of its websites after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was criticized by a primary opponent for “promoting transgender sexual policies to Texas youth.”

The site for Texas Youth Connection, part of DFPS, used to have a page called “Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation” that had links to various LGBTQ youth resources, including a suicide prevention hotline and educational materials.

Related: Texas Republican blames Black people for spreading COVID-19

In August, Don Huffines, who is challenging Abbott in the Republican primary, criticized the site in a video posted to Twitter.

“Governor Abbott’s political appointees that are running the Department of Family and Protective Services have put out and has been on their website some very disturbing information,” Huffines said in the video. “They are promoting transgender sexual policies to our- to Texas youth!”

He read out what each of the letters in LGBTQ means and said: “This is Texas! These are not Texas values. These are not Republican Party values. But these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values.”

“It’s offensive to see Greg Abbott use our tax dollars to advocate for transgender ideology,” he tweeted.

The Houston Chronicle obtained internal DFPS emails that show that the video disturbed its leadership. Within minutes of the video being posted, media relations director Marissa Gonzales sent an email to DFPS spokesperson Patrick Crimmins with the subject “Don Huffines video accusing Gov/DFPS of pushing liberal transgender agenda.”

“FYI. This is starting to blow up on Twitter,” she wrote.

Crimmins then emailed the DFPS’s website director and told him: “Please note we may need to take that page down, or somehow revise content.”

Despite the fact that the site was providing information that could save lives, it was taken down to advance Abbott’s political career and replaced with a message that…

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