A state-funded website that promoted the transgender ideology among Texas children has been taken down after it came to the attention of a conservative challenger to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Don Huffines launched a 2022 primary challenge against Abbott in May. Among the candidate’s complaints about the current Texas GOP governor is that he is allegedly not a genuine conservative.
On Wednesday, Huffines scored what might be considered a political victory against the two-term governor.
On Twitter on Tuesday, the candidate posted a video in which attacked Abbott for allegedly using state funds to operate a website that called for the celebration of LGBT youth and the normalization of gender fluidity, among other things.
He also vowed he’d have the page taken down.
The Daily Caller News Foundation reported that the website — which is associated with the Texas Youth Connection, a division of the Department of Family and Protective Services — called for the empowerment of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, and non-heterosexual (LGBTQIA+) youth, their peers, and family.”
The Texas Youth Connection page told children, “If you think you are being treated unfairly because of what others think of your gender identity or sexual orientation — such as when applying for a job, school, or apartment — you may want to reach out for legal help.”
The website was indeed taken down by Wednesday morning by the DFPS, allowing Huffines to score what appears to be a political victory.
The department told the DCNF the website had been disabled temporarily “for a comprehensive review of its content.”
“The Texas Youth Connection (TYC) website has been temporarily disabled for a comprehensive review of its content,” DFPS Director of Communications Patrick Crimmins told the DCNF. “This is being done to ensure that its information, resources, and referrals are current.”
In a previous statement on his campaign website that urged Abbott to “come out” about how he really feels about the transgender agenda, Huffines attacked.
“Following Gov. Greg Abbott’s continued refusal to support legislation protecting kids as young as three from chemical castration and brainwashing, and his record of enabling the radical Leftist transgender movement, conservative candidate for governor Don Huffines called on Abbott to end his dishonesty with Texans,” his campaign said.
Huffines also issued a statement of his own.
“Greg Abbott has a record of saying one thing and doing another when it comes to transgender issues in Texas,” Huffines said. “Put simply, he has a record of being dishonest with Texans.”
In Huffines’ social media attack on Abbott and the DFPS-run web page, the candidate blamed the existence of the materials on that page on Abbott and his “political appointees.”
It’s offensive to see @GregAbbott_TX use our tax dollars to advocate for transgender ideology. This must end. #txlege pic.twitter.com/gQiAEJZ8YR
— Don Huffines (@DonHuffines) August 31, 2021
“This is Texas. These are not Texas values. These are not Republican Party values. But these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values,” Huffines said online.
He went on to describe himself as the “actual Republican running.”
In an interview with the DCNF on Wednesday, the candidate blasted Abbott over the website and why it was being paid for by the state of Texas under the governor’s watch. Abbott won’t “lift a finger to prevent the sick brainwashing of Texas kids,” he said.
“Texas voters didn’t elect a Republican governor so he could use their tax dollars to assist the Human Rights Campaign or direct individuals to left-wing ideology groups,” Huffines added. “It’s time for an actual Republican in the governor’s mansion who puts an end to this nonsense.”
Abbott has not yet responded to the controversy.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.