Republican-run states all around the nation have started passing legislation to safeguard kids from gender-affirming care. Texas is one state that has acted. That allegedly led to a cyberattack targeting one of its cities.
Cyberattack
On June 23, a post claiming that the city website had been hacked was brought to the attention of the Information Technology Solutions Department of the City of Fort Worth. Information was stolen by online thieves from a city website where work orders are posted. They then published the data online for everyone to see.
Authorities suspect that the hackers stole the employees’ login information. Fortunately, it does not seem like any private information is being released online.
On June 24, the city convened a press conference to go over the situation. The information that was published online, according to the city’s IT director Kevin Gunn, included “photographs, spreadsheets, invoices for work performed, PDF documents, emails between staff,” and information about the work orders. He informed the populace that it does not seem like any additional websites or information were compromised.
Motive
The hackers gave an explanation for their actions, claiming that the state’s policy on transgender healthcare was to blame for their decision to publish the material online. SeigeSec, a group, claimed in a message on Twitter that it chose to target Texas since it was one of the biggest states to outlaw care that is gender affirming.
Senate Bill 14 was approved by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) at the start of June. The law forbids doctors from recommending hormone therapy or puberty blockers. The law also prohibits children from having surgery to change their gender. It will be necessary to gradually wean children off of their current hormone medication for gender affirmation.
On September 1, the law is expected to take effect.
Opposition
The law’s opponents have promised to block it from taking effect. Cruelty, according to Emmett Schelling, executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, “has always been the point.” The governor’s decision to sign the bill during Pride Month was challenged by the speaker.
Similar prohibitions have been approved by other states, but judges have prevented them from taking effect. A federal court temporarily overturned Florida’s restriction on transgender healthcare at the beginning of June. Federal judges in Tennessee and Kentucky temporarily stopped both legislation on June 28. Nevertheless, the Tennessee judge upheld the ban on children having gender surgery. The decision was made only eight days after another judge halted the implementation of the Arkansas prohibition.
