Jeff Younger with his son, James, who was 7 at the time. Younger vehemently opposes his ex-wife’s efforts to transition the boy, now 10. (Courtesy of SaveJames.com)
Jeff Younger wants to block any attempt to move his son to California
A Texas father embroiled in a high-profile custody battle fears a court ruling this week could allow his ex-wife to move to California and medically transition his 10-year-old son to a girl.
Jeff Younger, who lives in the Dallas area, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 23 that he will fight the Sept. 21 ruling by Dallas District Judge Mary Brown, and vows he’ll continue to fight for his son, James.
The parents have been engaged in a custody battle over James for most of his life. The mother, Anne Georgulas, started questioning James’s gender when he was a toddler. She argues that from a young age James chose to identify as a female, wanted to wear dresses, and eventually wanted to be known as Luna.
She eventually socially transitioned the boy, and presented him at school as a girl. The school supported that after the couple separated.
Younger accused his ex-spouse of leading their young child to socially transition before he could understand the concept or its implications. He said James rejected being female and did not wear dresses when visiting his home after the parents separated in 2015.
“I had a dress at my house, but he threw it in the trash can in the middle of the night when he thought I wasn’t looking,” Younger said.
Younger is concerned that his ex-wife now will transition James medically. He says documents he obtained during court proceedings show she took James to a therapist who recommended the family “explore” gender transitioning at the Dallas-based Genecis medical clinic.
Younger intends to file an emergency stay in response to the Sept. 21 court order. He’ll ask that a previous jury verdict, allowing 50-50 custody and no child support, be reaffirmed.
Brown, a liberal Democrat sitting on the bench for Texas 301st District Court, ruled that Younger’s ex-wife could move James and his twin brother, Jude, anywhere in the continental United States. The judge said her ruling was for the “safety and welfare” of the twins.
The order also said Younger would have to schedule supervised parental visits in the county and state where the children reside.
In her ruling, the judge “ordered” the mother not to reveal their future whereabouts to the boys’ father. And the judge allowed her to apply for new passports.
Georgulas, a Dallas-area pediatrician, indicated earlier this month that she intends to move to California, Younger said.
The move is consequential because lawmakers there have passed a bill that, according to a California Senate Rules Committee explanation, would enact “various safeguards against the enforcement of other states’ laws” that would “penalize individuals from obtaining gender-affirming care that is legal in California.” The bill was delivered to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 9 and, if not vetoed, will become law.
The legislation would prohibit medical providers from releasing information in response to lawsuits originating in other states that oppose “gender-affirming” care for children. It also would bar California state and local police from arresting or extraditing someone for violating other states’ laws regarding treatment.
“As soon as she’s there for a year, my sons will become citizens of California,” Younger said. “And then it becomes legal for them to castrate James. So they’ll chemically castrate him.”
In 2021, Brown stripped Younger of most parental rights, giving full custody in a temporary order to Georgulas, after Younger was late making child support payments, medical support, and interest, as ordered. Then, he only paid his past-due support after the motion for enforcement was filed, according to the judge’s ruling.
Younger believes the new California law will allow his ex-wife to get around a previous Texas court order preventing either parent from treating the child with hormonal suppression therapy, puberty blockers, or transgender reassignment surgery without both parents’ consent or a court order.
In the Sept. 21 ruling, Brown said Younger ignored her instructions to attend therapy sessions. and failed to see his children in the past 13 months.
Younger said that he was not allowed to see his children individually, and had to see them together. The judge ordered him to pay hundreds of dollars for each supervised visit. The judge also ordered him not to change James out of a dress when he visited, which Younger refused to do.
“I’ve told the judge I’ll just go to jail over that,” Younger said. “I’m not harming my son.”
The court also issued a gag order against Younger, forbidding him to talk to the media. He defied it.
Younger believes the supervised visits ordered by the judge were “a setup,” so the observer could make adverse reports about his refusal to call the boy Luna.
“We have reached a point of absolute despotism in the Texas courts,” said Younger, who in the spring ran unsuccessfully for the office of state representative on the issue of making gender transition illegal for minors.
“This is directly the fault of the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature,” he said, noting that attempts to pass such legislation in 2021 failed.
When reached by The Epoch Times, Georgulas declined to comment on the ruling or her plans to move.
