A Dallas doctor sued by the Texas attorney general for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to minors has surrendered her Texas medical license, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday.
Paxton sued Dr. May Lau in October 2024, alleging that she had violated Texas’ ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The lawsuit alleged Lau had provided gender transition treatments — such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy — to 21 minor patients.
Paxton further alleged that Lau had falsified the medical records for those patients to misrepresent the purpose of the prescriptions. The attorney general’s lawsuit also described Lau as a “scofflaw.”
One of Lau’s attorneys — Craig Smyser at Steptoe LLP’s Houston office — sent an email statement on her behalf, saying the doctor “decided to move her medical practice to Oregon and saw no reason to continue to maintain her Texas license.”
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Lau, the statement says, “continues to deny the Texas Attorney General’s politically- and ideologically-driven allegations.”
The Texas Medical Board’s database lists Lau’s medical license as “cancelled by request” as of early October. Lau is affiliated with both UT Southwestern and Children’s Health in Dallas.
This file photo is a portrait of Dr. May Lau, who is affiliated with UT Southwestern and Children’s Health in Dallas.
After Paxton filed the lawsuit against Lau last year, he followed up by suing two more doctors: a second doctor in Dallas and another in El Paso.
In January, both of the Dallas doctors agreed to stop practicing medicine on patients, in a temporary agreement with Paxton. Months later, Paxton’s office withdrew its lawsuit against the El Paso doctor and said that “no legal violations were found” in that case.
The attorney general’s office said at the time that the cases against the two Dallas doctors were ongoing. In the Friday morning release announcing Lau’s license surrender, Paxton’s office reiterated that the legal case against her will continue.
In the suits and related media releases, Paxton has described the three doctors as activists who harmed children.
In contrast, LGBTQ+ and civil rights organizations have argued that the gender-affirming care ban and its enforcement are harming trans youth. Many medical providers and associations have similarly opposed bans on gender-affirming care.
Medical standards do not typically recommend the full scope of gender-affirming care, such as surgical procedures, for minors. However, medical guidelines do recommend that transgender youth receive gender-affirming care such as social transitioning and puberty blockers.
Medical associations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics have also raised concerns about any policies or bans that interfere in the physician-patient relationship, including for gender-affirming care.
In a May statement responding to a federal report on gender-affirming care, AAP president Dr. Susan Kressly said that “bypassing medical expertise” is dangerous to children.
“Patients, their families, and their physicians — not politicians or government officials — should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them based on evidence-based, age-appropriate care,” she wrote.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from Dr. May Lau’s attorneys.