Posted on by Randy Slovacek

GOP Candidate Claims Victory For Having Suicide Hotline Webpage Removed

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) removed its LGBTQ youth resource page after a Republican challenging Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in next year’s election complained that tax dollars were being used to “promote transgender sexual policies.”

UPDATE: After the LGBTQ resource webpage was removed, Huffines boasted about his ‘victory.’

In a statement, Don Huffines said he had followed through on his commitment to get the webpage taken down. “We aren’t surprised that state employees who are loyal to Greg Abbott had to scramble after we called their perverse actions out,” Huffines said in a statement. “I promised Texans I would get rid of that website, and I kept that promise.”

Don Huffines, a real estate developer and conservative activist, said in a Twitter video in late August that the state was publishing “disturbing information about our youth.”

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

“They’re talking about helping empower and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally, non-heterosexual behavior,” he continued. “I mean, really? This is Texas. These are not Texas values. These are not Republican Party values, but these are obviously Greg Abbott’s values.”

And just like that, within hours, DFPS removed the page according to the Houston Chronicle. 

The Texas Youth Connection page provided information for several services, including housing and LGBTQ resources.

Emails obtained by the Houston Chronicle show that within minutes of the video going live, 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.”

Gonzales wrote in the email, “FYI. This is starting to blow up on Twitter.”

Crimmins then emailed the website editor: “Please note we may need to take that page down, or somehow revise content.”

Mind you, this is information that included a suicide prevention hotline and educational materials.