Washington Gov. Jay Inslee sued over law allowing state to withhold info on child sex-change surgeries from parents

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

Washington Democratic Governor Jay Inslee has been sued by a non-profit legal group, American First Legal, which aims to halt the enforcement of a law that permits the state to conceal child sex-change surgeries from parents.

American First Legal, led by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Washington Governor Jay Inslee, seeking to prevent the enforcement of Senate Bill 5599. This bill, recently signed into law by Inslee, was advocated by leftist lawmakers as a means of protecting trans-identifying youth. It allows "host homes" to withhold information from parents regarding their child's sex-change procedure, the Daily Wire reported.

According to American First Legal, the legislation "creates a dangerous incentive for minors who disagree with their parents on 'gender-affirming care' to run away to a shelter or host home."

Miller said:

No state action more frighteningly illustrates the threat to our children than this law. This sick, authoritarian law essentially allows the state to kidnap children from their parents and hide their whereabouts to surgically and chemically mutilate them—and to formally deprive their parents of any legal ability to stop the medical disfigurement of their sons and daughters by gender extremists targeting their children.

/1🚨BREAKING — we sued the governor of Washington @GovInslee to block enforcement of a new “state-sanctioned kidnapping” bill that allows the state to hide kids from their parents to perform “gender transitions” - including disfiguring drugs and mutilating surgeries.

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— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) August 16, 2023

The new law stipulates that shelters or "host homes" are not obliged to inform parents of a runaway child if the child claims to be fleeing parents who disapprove of a sex-change procedure or abortion. Instead of reporting the runaway child to the parents, the host home must notify the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Additionally, the legislation includes abortion as a "compelling reason" for licensed shelters and host homes not to alert parents if a runaway child is seeking such a procedure.

The bill, which passed the Senate 29-20 and the House 57-39, was sponsored by State Senator Marko Liias, a Democrat who represents an area north of Seattle and co-chairs the LGBTQ caucus.

Liias said in a press release, "Every child – including our trans youth – deserves to be safe at home. In a perfect world, that is the case, but unfortunately, that is not the reality. This legislation affirms our commitment to ensuring children have a safe and stable place to go when they are not welcome at home."

Inslee, upon signing the bill, described it as a "compassionate, developmentally appropriate, and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services."

The suit also targets Washington Attorney General Robert Furguson and the secretary of the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Ross Hunter. American First Legal argues that the new statute "deprives certain parents of their fundamental rights under the United States Constitution to direct the care and upbringing of their children."