Abel Garcia
This content was last updated March 18, 2024, 11:25 a.m. UTC
Abel Garcia is an anti-trans activist in Texas, known for his vocal opposition to gender-affirming care for minors after his struggles with his gender identity. Garcia has loaned his support to various pieces of anti-trans legislation regarding transgender minors, including House Bill 1686 and Senate Bill 14. The primary face of his activism rests on the critique of the ease of access to gender-affirming care.
Legislative Appearances
During a 2022 meeting for the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s school board, Garcia phoned in with his complaints regarding “the push they are doing right now to our children with the transgender ideology.” He has no children and does not live in the state of California.
Garcia testified in favor of Texas’ House Bill 1686, which would prohibit administering gender-affirming care to trans youth. Additionally, the bill criminalizes the act of offering care to minors and bars public funding from being distributed to clinics that offer these treatments. During his testimony, Garcia stated “Minors need better safeguarding protections against irreversible medical decisions on their behalf” stating he has health problems he believes are a result of HRT.
Garcia also testified in favor of Texas’ Senate Bill 14, another piece of legislation revolving around providing gender-affirming healthcare to minors. During his testimony, he claimed “states like California prefer to turn people into lab rats and lifelong medical patients.” This is a common alt-right talking point that claims affirming care is pushed by doctors as part of a grand pharmaceutical conspiracy.
Garcia prepared similar testimony in support of Tennessee’s House Bill 0001, which went unread, which he later shared via YouTube. His testimony shares a commonality with his commentary on other bills, revolving around restricting gender-affirming care to minors. Garcia himself first sought care when he was 19 years old.
Early Life and Transition
According to Garcia’s account of his early life, he describes having thoughts of uncertainty about his gender from a very young age, albeit without the terminology to explain his feelings to others until much later in life. At age 19, he came out as transgender to his family and friends, noting a complete lack of support from his parents. He expressed hesitation in regards to gender-affirming surgeries and began hormone therapy, which he continued for several years. By age 23, he discontinued affirming therapies and began to socially present in a masculine way once more.
Public Anti-Trans Support
Garcia appeared in Damaged, an anti-trans documentary by The Daily Caller, a right-wing news outlet founded by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel. Garcia appeared alongside fellow anti-trans activists Chloe Cole and Cat Cattinson, among others.
Garcia’s story has been highlighted by Advocates Protecting Children, an anti-trans organization that claims gender-affirming care can lower a child's IQ, among other spurious medical beliefs.
On his Youtube channel, Garcia has interviewed various anti-trans activists including Walt Heyer and July Carlan. He also hosts unread legislative testimony by Jeannette Cooper.
Garcia’s story and testimony have been repeatedly highlighted by The Daily Wire and The Daily Signal. He also has an interview featured on PragerU.
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