A Texas father who has been fighting for custody of his twin boys has been given limited visitation rights as the children have been ordered to live with their mother.
Jeff Younger staunchly opposes his ex-wife Anne Georgulas’ desire to subject one of the children, James, who she prefers to call “Luna,” through a gender transition.
Younger insists that James does not want to live as a girl, and does not behave as though he identifies as a girl when he is with him or with people other than his mother.
The Texan reported this week that Judge Mary Brown granted temporary full custody to Georgulas, although she did stipulate that any gender transition treatments cannot go forward without the consent of each parent or a court order.
James mother now has full control over his “primary residence, counseling, medications, education, and extracurricular activities,” as per The Texan.
She cannot, however, make any decisions without Younger’s consent that involve “hormone suppression therapy, puberty blockers, or transgender reassignment surgery.”
“Mr. Younger failed to timely make the payments of child support, medical support and interest as ordered and only paid his past due support after the motion for enforcement was filed,” Judge Brown’s memorandum reads.
“The prior orders that Ms. Georgulas must notify Mr. Younger of doctor’s, counseling, or mental health appointments, or extracurricular activities for the children are lifted. In an effort to ensure the emotional well-being and physical safety of the children, the court orders that all of Mr. Younger’s possession periods shall be continuously supervised by Forensic Counseling Services…at Mr. Younger’s sole cost and expense.”
What’s more, Georgulas also has the right to keep information from James’ father “regarding the children’s extracurricular activities, school functions, school enrollment, counseling, and medical care.”
Although Georgulas’ lawyer argued during a virtual hearing last month that the gender transition issue is merely tangential to the case and that there are “issues” with Younger’s “parenting,” Younger’s attorney says that this is a mischaracterization of the case.
“To downplay that this is but for the gender issue is absolutely misleading and wrong. This is all about the gender issue in this case. And it’s about the parents’ ability to cope with and deal with this situation,” attorney David Hanschen said.
Georgulas and her attorneys maintain that Younger’s refusal to cooperate with decisions regarding counseling or education for James and that he has not provided sufficient child support and criticized him for providing interviews to the media.
Younger, meanwhile, says he is fine with counseling but that he feels the “system has been gamed.”
“When the child is brought to [the counselors], the child comes from the mother’s custody and is always dressed up as a little girl. Dad only has possession on Fridays, and neither of the two professionals have office hours on Fridays. And so he thinks, and I would agree with him, that it’s really quite unfair that the presentation of the child to the counseling system is only done under the auspices and control of one parent,” Hanschen explained.
The parents have also disagreed about James’ schooling. Georgulas sends him to a public school where Younger says they call him “Luna.” He would prefer that James is homeschooled, where he will not be treated as though he is a girl.
“When James is with me, he shows no signs of wanting to be a girl when given the choice. Even when in female company, away from me, James rejects a female gender expression,” Younger has written on the “Save James” website that he uses to raise awareness about his case.
The case surrounding little James is the most high-profile custody case involving parents who disagree as to whether or not a child identifies as transgender.
It is heartbreaking to think that at the middle of this high-profile custody battle is a little child who needs the love, care, and protection of both his parents, who ought to have his best interest at heart.
The problem is when there is such stark contrast over what the parents believe is in the best interest of the child.
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