The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld a state ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors that parents had argued unconstitutionally limited their right to seek care for their children. The 8-1 decision overturned a lower court’s ruling that the legislation violated the Texas Constitution.
Washington
Texas Supreme Court reinstates ban on gender-affirming care for minors
“We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children,” Justice Rebeca Huddle wrote for the majority on the all-Republican court.
Texas is one of about two dozen states that have passed such bans as conservatives have pushed to broadly restrict transgender rights, an issue that has emerged as a flash point of the nation’s cultural and political divides. Former president Donald Trump, who is running for a second term, has also pledged to end gender-affirming care for minors, NBC News reported in January. He has equated the procedures, which medical groups say are safe and sometimes medically necessary, to “child abuse.”
Texas is the largest state to have banned gender-affirming care. Republicans there have also pushed to restrict teaching about LGBTQ people and issues in schools, part of an effort framed as expanding parental rights.
Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said on X that his office would “use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.”
The measure’s sponsor, Rep. Tom Oliverson (R), added that the state has a “duty” to regulate medical care.
“Very gratifying to see @SupremeCourt_TX concurs,” he wrote on X.
LGBTQ+ advocates criticized the decision, saying it would curtail their rights as parents and hurt their transgender children in a conservative state that has expanded parental control over issues such as their children’s schooling.
“Instead of leaving medical decisions concerning minor children where they belong, with their parents and their doctors, the Court here has elected to let politicians … determine the allowed course of treatment,” said Karen Loewy, a spokesperson for Lambda Legal, which was among the groups that sued on behalf of five Texas families.
Justice Debra Lehrmann, the dissenting justice in Friday’s ruling, agreed with Loewy, calling the law “not only cruel” but also unconstitutional. She added that it allows the state to “legislate away fundamental parental rights.”
“The Court’s ‘parental rights for me but not for thee’ approach has no objective criteria and renders parents entirely without guidance on whether their parental liberty will be meaningfully protected,” Lehrmann wrote. “The Court’s opinion thus puts all parental rights in jeopardy.”
The majority countered that while “fit parents” have a right to make decisions for their children without state interference, legislatures are permitted to enact limits on child labor and regulate medical care.
While the plaintiffs said the court’s ruling left no avenue for further challenges, they will continue to challenge measures like it.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a Tennessee law that bans gender transition care for minors, the first opportunity the nation’s top court will have to consider the constitutionality of such restrictions.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking more than 500 bills it calls “anti-LGBTQ” across the country.
Ash Hall, an ACLU of Texas strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights, said the law has caused suffering among adolescents and families since its passage in June 2023.
“Our government shouldn’t deprive trans youth of the health care that they need to survive and thrive — while offering that exact same health care to everyone else,” Hall said in a statement. “Texas politicians’ obsession with attacking trans kids and their families is needlessly cruel.”
A majority of Americans oppose puberty-blocking medications and hormonal treatments for trans children, according to a Washington Post-KFF poll. For gender-diverse people, however, the ability to access such treatments improves their overall well-being, according to the American Psychological Association.
Major medical associations have said treatment such as puberty blockers lower rates of depression and suicide in transgender people and have opposed this legislation, saying laws should not discriminate against trans patients or interfere with doctors’ ability to provide individualized, evidence-based care for patients.
More than 100,000 transgender youths live in states that ban gender-affirming care, according to the Williams Institute, a research center that reports on LGBT community demographics. It estimates that almost 30,000 Texans between the ages of 13 and 17 identify as transgender.
This story is from an installment of The Oeno Files, our weekly insider newsletter to the world of fine wine. Sign up here.
While Washington State has become well known for its Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends in recent years, it is also home to many producers making outstanding Syrah. With just a 40-year history of cultivation in the state, Syrah is now the second most-produced red wine there as well as its best-kept secret. First planted in Washington in 1986, some early releases were treated like Cabernet Sauvignon with a lot of new oak and one-size-fits-all production method, but over time a broad spectrum of expressions has arisen among the state’s Syrahs.
Elsewhere in the U.S.A. it might seem like wineries are holding back the most exciting bottles for their neighbors, but Washington Syrah is more widely available than one might think, especially on restaurant tables. Landry’s Inc.—which operates more than 500 restaurants across the country including steakhouses such as Morton’s, Del Frisco’s, and the Palm—serves more than a dozen Washington Syrahs and a wide range of Syrah blends from the state. Scott Tarwater, corporate director of wine and special events, describes Washington Syrah as “a rugged, mountain man, unshaven, but worldly, down to earth, and plain spoken.” While he enjoys it for its savory character, he also likes that it is full of jammy notes such as boysenberry, black raspberry, and pomegranate alongside hints of ripened olives and pipe tobacco.
One of the drivers of quality in the last 20 years is the adoption of Old World techniques like stem inclusion and the use of concrete vessels, large‑format oak casks, and neutral oak barrels to let the fruit do the talking. Improved vineyard techniques have allowed for site expression to become clearer as well, with the Rocks District and Royal Slope showing savory and mineral characteristics, Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills bringing out more power and ripeness, and Yakima Valley showcasing a mix of the two styles.
Matt Reynvaan, founder and winemaker of R|A Family Wines, makes his JDA Project Syrah from a vineyard in the Rocks District that is defined by ancient riverbed soils layered with dense cobblestone. “These stones retain and radiate heat, lending intensity, structure, and unmistakable minerality to the fruit,” he explains. Replanted in 2020, the vineyard was designed with clonal diversity and precision farming practices tailored block by block. “Syrah is interplanted with small amounts of Viognier, and each section contributes a unique dimension, from power and structure to elegance and purity, resulting in a wine that is both complex and site driven,” Reynvaan says.
DeLille’s vineyards
DeLille
At Two Vintners, winemaker and partner Morgan Lee produces four different Syrahs including a Columbia Valley cuvée, a Rocks District bottling and single-vineyard expressions from Horse Heaven Hills and Yakima Valley, working with 13 distinct vineyards across six AVAs. “Each patch of dirt puts a stamp of individuality on the wine,” he says. “The beauty of Syrah is that it absorbs its surroundings like nothing else. It is a chameleon. It is so exciting to taste these individual parcels side by side and see how thrillingly different they are from one another.” Leaning heavily into a Northern Rhône style in his vineyard sourcing, Lee also employs Rhône techniques like native-yeast fermentation and whole-cluster pressing.
Washington’s first Syrah was planted in the Red Willow Vineyard in the foothills of the Cascades in the far northwest portion of the Yakima Valley by Mike Sauer in 1986, and winemaker Nick Bernstein utilizes fruit from that original block for DeLille Red Willow Syrah. “The Syrah here thrives on steep slopes of poor volcanic soils and creates powerful wine with deep concentration,” Bernstein says. In addition to that and DeLille’s Grand Ciel estate vineyard on Red Mountain, Bernstein also buys fruit from Boushey Vineyard, whose proprietor Dick Boushey has been a prominent grower for 45 years. This cooler site allows for more hang time, flavor development, and acid retention, leading to an earthier Syrah with dark fruit notes.
The wide diversity of Syrah can be seen in Liminal’s two offerings, High Canyon Syrah and Block 16 Syrah, which come from blocks in the WeatherEye Vineyard in the Red Mountain AVA that are about 500 yards apart but differ in aspect, elevation, and clonal selection. Liminal winemaker and partner Chris Peterson says the High Canyon block has elements of black fruits, minerals, and cured olive that remind him of Côte-Rôtie. “This is why we co-ferment with about 4 percent Viognier and choose the specific barrels to age it in and accentuate these aspects,” he explains. Meanwhile, the Block 16 exhibits the “wild herb, cured meats, and firm structure” characteristics that recall Cornas, so he ages it in 500-liter puncheons, with a style of new barrel “that shows off this more feral side.”
One of the newest additions to the Evergreen State scene is Dossier Wine Collective, whose head winemaker Billo Naravane crafts its flagship Syrah with an eye on the Northern Rhône, especially Côte-Rôtie and Cornas. Sourced from three vineyards, it offers the aromatic elegance and finesse of Côte-Rôtie alongside the structure, focus, and depth of Cornas. “Our use of concrete during fermentation is intentional. Concrete preserves purity and freshness while lending the wine a tighter, more focused profile, a hallmark we admire in many traditional Northern Rhône Syrahs,” Naravane says.
On the east coast, diners at JF Restaurant’s eateries can enjoy Syrah from Walla Walla and Columbia Valley. Beverage director and partner Amy Racine tells clients unfamiliar with the style that “Washington Syrah is a crossover between the States and Rhône Valley. It has a savory, peppery backbone similar to the northern Rhône and a ripe and juicy fruit you can find in the States.” Calling it “a category that rewards curiosity,” she tells Robb Report, “Most guests come in with a fixed idea of what Syrah is supposed to taste like, usually a Rhône reference point, and Washington Syrah surprises them by being a little familiar yet entirely its own thing.”
Do you want access to rare and outstanding reds from Napa Valley? Join the Robb Report 672 Wine Club today.
Authors
Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen
Washington
Divorces granted July 2-8 in Washington, Benton counties | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The following divorces granted were recorded July 2-8 in the Benton and Washington county clerks’ offices:
BENTON COUNTY
25-1094. Heather Jones v. Michael Mazzarisi
25-1993. Sarah Waddle v. Brandon Waddle
26-46. Samantha Hines v. Garrett Hines
26-266. Donna Boyd v. Russell Boyd
26-329. Tara Whitwam v. Brett Whitwam
26-354. April Timboe v. Matthew Timboe
26-397. Troy Hull v. Kaley McManamon
26-419. Mark Hagel v. Michelle Hagel
26-437. Deborah Luper v. Donald Luper
26-470. Amanda Russell v. Christopher Russell
26-561. Audrey Mosher v. Dustin Mosher
26-562. Jacob King v. Ashley King
26-649. Chris Edwards v. Sara Edwards
26-664. David Carpenter v. Hannah Holtrey
26-774. Lauren Armfield v. Alexander Armfield
26-775. Sandra Saldana v. Luis Saldana
26-785. Maritza Campos v. Luis De Los Santos
26-798. Darell Shepard v. Rachel Lipscomb
26-802. Jeffery Nicholas v. Tracy Nicholas
26-809. Alicia Moreland v. Travis Moreland
26-814. Mellisa Dugger v. Matthew Crowne
26-817. Sabra Utting v. Derek Utting
26-825. Laura Wortman v. Brian Wortman
26-827. Laura Dean v. Seth Dean
26-845. William Austen v. Krystal Austen
26-846. Janine Robin v. Henry Robin
WASHINGTON COUNTY
24-472. Breayonda Bendickson v. Zackery Thompson
25-1333. Joshua Stephens v. Tiffany Pershall
25-1475. Jacqueline Lybrand v. Zachary Lybrand
25-1720. Jennifer McMahon v. Timothy McMahon
26-10. Janiky Rosario Madera v. Angel Ortiz Fuentes
26-225. Carol Kaufman v. Charles Axtell
26-268. Elizabeth Lasiter v. Prashanth Kumaresan
26-367. Shawn Harp v. Angela Harp
26-414. Patricia Johnson v. Robert Pritchard
26-518. Francisco Ramirez v. Nicole Franz
26-633. Debra Andrews v. Randy Brown
26-695. Jorge Azahares v. Dianelis Rodriguez
The Washington Huskies saw one of their most hotly contested offensive line targets in the 2027 class go elsewhere on Saturday afternoon when four-star offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough announced his pledge to the California Golden Bears
The 6-foot-5, 340-pound product of Basha High School in Arizona, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 426 overall prospect and No. 25 interior offensive lineman by the 247Sports Composite, picked coach Tosh Lupoi and the Golden Bears out of a final four that also included Florida State, Mississippi State, and UW.
Although his junior year was cut short due to a fractured ankle, Fisch and offensive line coach Michael Switzer kept up a strong relationship with the hulking prospect, who has the size, physicality, and skill set the pair looks for from early contributors up front. However,
“The big man slides smoothly in pass protection and balances his weight well, always finding himself on the winning end of collisions with defenders,” Huskies Wire’s Alex Katson wrote in an evaluation of his film. “With such prototypical size and technique, Yarborough profiles as a player who could find himself in the NFL rather quickly with the right coaching staff during his time in college.”
As Washington continues to build up its offensive line for the rigors of the Big Ten, Yarborough would have been viewed as a promising building block alongside Freshman All-American John Mills, former five-star Kodi Greene, and former four-star Champ Taulealea, who should make up the core of Switzer’s unit in 2027.
While the Huskies had consistently been viewed among the top suitors for Yarborough’s services, but Lupoi’s staff has shown early that it can make a big impact quickly on recruits all over the West. Without Yarborough, Washington’s 2027 class consists of three offensive linemen: four-star interior prospect Gecova Doyal, four-star center Reis Russell, and three-star offensive tackle Tye Kennedy.
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