Suspicious mailers from a nonexistent trans rights group are showing up in voters’ mailboxes in Texas ahead of the midterms.
Some residents have received pamphlets and fliers from the “Texas Transgender Student Union,” a made-up organization, advising them on how to emancipate from their parents and receive out-of-state medical care. The pamphlets seem to be leaning into right-wing hysteria over gender-affirming care for minors.
The branding on the flyers mimics that of the real-life Transgender Education Network of Texas, which disavowed the mailings on a statement on its website.
“We are aware of text messages and now physical mailers that have been circulated concerning TENT that appear to have been issued by or on behalf of the organization,” the website states. ”These text messages and mailers were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT and are not affiliated with our organization. The texts do not represent the official position or communications of the organization.”
Republicans across the Lone Star State who received the literature, which seems to be specifically targeting them, are falling for the ragebait.
The mailings include an “LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide” flyer that has resources and websites aimed at helping transgender youth. The Concho Observer, an independent local news outlet based in San Angelo, Texas, found that the address provided for the Texas Transgender Student Union is a UPS Store in Flower Mound, Texas.
The Observer estimates that sending the mailings would cost between $3 million and $4.4 million, proving that they must have been part of a deliberate political operation. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has already poured nearly $190 million into the Texas Senate race, and has engaged in shady, legally gray tactics before. He, or another Republican megadonor, is likely responsible for the mailers.
The flyers come after suspicious text messages seemingly impersonating TENT went out to Texans last week purporting to offer help about gender-affirming care in the state and provide guides to “bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school.” The organization sent out a cease and desist notice to two digital messaging companies to halt the campaign.