‘I Raise A Glass To Their Embarrassment And Misery’: Texas Mom Revels in Paxton Meltdown
Republican attorney general had taken aim at transgender kids like Amber Briggle’s
Shockwaves from Texas state Sen Angela Paxton’s bombshell announcement that she is divorcing her husband of nearly 40 years — the Lone Star State’s Republican state attorney general, Ken Paxton — have been felt around the state and even across the nation.
But perhaps nowhere more personally than the home of Amber Briggle, the mother of a transgender son who has had a long — and ultimately bitter — relationship with Ken Paxton, who has been using his office to attack the rights of transgender individuals in Texas.
Angela Paxton revealed her astonishing split from her husband Thursday in a mysterious post on social media. The disclosure not only reverberates through Texas state politics, but national politics, as well. Ken Paxton had been way ahead in polling in his insurgent primary challenge to the incumbent Republican US senator from Texas, John Cornyn. His wife’s declaration of an impending divorce on “biblical grounds” now throws that campaign into question.
But back at a home in Denton, Texas, Amber Briggle’s reaction to the shocking news was more personal than it was political, and she shared her story — and that of her family — on social media.
Briggle’s been fighting for the rights of her transgender son, Max.
But she remembered that her relationship with the Paxtons began in a much more friendly way — before she and her family apparently became politically inconvenient for the ambitious and far-right Paxtons.
“In 2016, Ken Paxton had the audacity to sit at my table and break bread with my family knowing full well that my son is trans, then SIX YEARS LATER wrote an opinion stating that families like mine shouldn't exist. Within days, an [Child Protective Services] investigator was in our home threatening to remove our children,” Briggle recalled.
Briggle added: “Today, his soon-to-be ex-wife Angela – who joined us that evening and even brought a homemade dessert still warm from her oven – filed for divorce on ‘biblical grounds.’”
Paxton has made targeting the rights of transgender individuals in Texas a centerpiece of his career, from trans kids in schools to access to gender-affirming care.
And Amber Briggle has fought doggedly for Max, who she describes as a “bright, goofy, helpful, athletic, popular child, who loves cats, cartoons, and camping,” who happens to be transgender.
So she allowed herself a bit of schadenfreude at the news from the Paxtons.
Briggle reposted Angela Paxton’s cryptic announcement alongside a photo of herself raising a glass of wine.
She admitted that she had no idea what Angela Paxton’s announcement meant, but added, “excuse me while i raise a glass to their embarrassment and misery.”
Please support our work…
Please subscribe …