Texas Attorney General Dines With Local Mother of Transgender Child

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton honored his dinner date with Amber Briggle, a mother of a transgender child who's fighting for his right to use the bathroom. In an Equality Texas press release, Briggle said Paxton and his wife Angela met with her family on Thursday evening at their home in Denton.

The Briggles cooked a meal of beef shish kabobs from a local ranch, watermelon, blueberry cobbler and cornbread in the shape of Darth Vader's mask. The Paxtons brought dessert. 

Paxton agreed to have dinner with the Briggles after Briggle challenged him and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and other Texas leaders to sit down for dinner and get to know them before they push forward laws that discriminate against families he and others are sworn to protect.

"I invited Attorney General Ken Paxton to sit down with our family and get to know his constituents and fellow Texans," Amber Briggle wrote. "I am pleased the attorney general took the time to visit with our family and to meet our son and to have a conversation with our family. We are Texans, just like everyone else. My most important job in life is being a mom, and my son and his safety are my top priority. Since the attorney general has never met an openly transgender child, Adam and I felt that it was important for him to meet our amazing son, so that he could put a face to this issue.

"We expressed to him that it is his job as attorney general to protect the rights of all Texans, including transgender kids like MG," she added, "and we hope that after meeting our family he will see that these discriminatory lawsuits and actions put our child in danger and affect his ability to succeed in school."

Adam Briggle said he hoped that their dinner can change the tone of the public discourse over transgender people's rights and other LGBT issues. "The dinner table is where we gather to share and celebrate our common humanity — love and family, hopes and worries, laughter and tears. At our meal together, I think we all were reminded that behind the political disagreements, there are genuine and caring human beings who are striving to do the right thing as best as they can see it."

Paxton couldn't be reached for comment.