Jamie Lee Curtis at SXSW pledges to defend transgender Texas youth from 'horrifying' order

A Hollywood icon visiting Austin on Friday spoke out against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's order to treat gender-affirming medical care as child abuse.

"I am the mother of a trans daughter," movie star Jamie Lee Curtis told the American-Statesman on the red carpet at South by Southwest. Curtis stars in the new sci-fi film "Everything Everywhere All At Once." The film's world premiere opened up the 2022 SXSW Film Festival at the Paramount Theatre on Friday.

Last year, Curtis and her daughter, Ruby, spoke to People magazine about their relationship amid Ruby's coming out. 

"It's outrageous and horrifying that the governor has taken this position," Curtis said Friday. "I will do everything that I can, along with millions of other people, to support and defend the rights of these trans young people."

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Last month, Abbott ordered the state child welfare agency to investigate reports of "gender-transitioning procedures" as child abuse. The move followed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's written opinion defining gender-affirming care as child abuse under state laws. The policies have been widely decried by medical professionals and advocates for transgender youth and their families.

State District Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued an order Friday blocking gender-affirming medical care from being treated as child abuse, finding that Abbott violated the rights of transgender adolescents and their parents. The temporary injunction also ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services to cease any investigations based solely on the provision of gender-affirming care.

"These human beings deserve to live freely as they are," Curtis told the Statesman.

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SXSW Film Festival runs through March 19.