New information on the transgender advocacy texts and pamphlets that went out to families across Texas. Some say they’re used to agitate Republican voters to go out and vote.
New information on the transgender advocacy texts and pamphlets that went out to families across Texas. Some say they’re used to agitate Republican voters to go out and vote. (SBG San Antonio)
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The state Supreme Court has paused a deposition that would have revealed the identity of the mysterious organization behind them.
The pamphlets — purporting to come from a transgender rights organization — were addressed in the mail to students across the state.
It turns out that organization had nothing to do with them and now wants to know who’s responsible.
The pamphlets appear to be stoking anti-LGBTQ sentiment, according to political experts, lawyers and civil rights advocates.
“It smacks a bit of partisanship and concerns about who are they protecting and why,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at UTSA.
Critics say the pamphlets are purposely taking extreme positions they know will agitate readers, like advocating for teens and children to emancipate, or legally separate from their parents.
They were mailed out just before early voting started.
The organization on the pamphlet is the Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT. But TENT says the pamphlets are not from them and are spreading disinformation and misrepresenting its organization.
The mailers were registered to a Wyoming address and tied to thousands of shell companies.
“We assume to ratchet up support for the Republican side,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at UTSA.
TENT petitioned to have the names of the people responsible for smearing their organization’s name revealed.
A judge granted the request to unredact information, but today the Texas Supreme Court intervened, issuing a stay.
That means, for now, the sender’s identities won’t be revealed.
Jon Taylor, a political science professor at UTSA, says the court’s decision is bad timing. And even though political speech laws are pretty lenient, TENT might be onto something because it might have a criminal fraud case on its hands.
“I think that’s why there is such fear among the people who may have put this together about, ‘We gotta cover our tracks. We gotta find ways to slow this down,’” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at UTSA.
But one piece of information did get out from another deposition. According to the Texas Tribune, the text messages sent out with trans resources have been linked to the Republican Women’s Caucus Fund. The organization denies any connection with them.