A Republican district attorney in West Texas has initiated a criminal investigation into pamphlets that were distributed to homes throughout the state, which are alleged to be from a transgender rights organization.
Sarah Stogner, the district attorney for Loving, Reeves, and Ward counties located west of Odessa, indicated that her office is probing the mailers for potential forgery, although the investigation may broaden as more details emerge. Under Texas law, forgery is classified as a state jail felony.
Stogner expressed her belief that the mailers, promoted as a resource guide for LGBTQ+ students by the Texas Transgender Student Union—a newly established group in Wyoming—were clearly designed to provoke voter sentiments ahead of the upcoming November midterm elections.
“If this ends up being legal, it is everything that is wrong with our current political climate,” Stogner remarked.
The source of the mailers remains unclear. Records show that the organization identified as the sender was registered as a limited liability company in Wyoming in September, while the address listed on the mailer corresponds to a post office box in the Houston area.
The pamphlets were directed to the “student” of various households and contained sections advising LGBTQ+ youth to seek support from several advocacy groups in cases where their parents might not accept their gender identity.
These materials frequently mention the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), which has faced backlash, including threats of violence, according to a legal representative for the organization. TENT officials assert that they had no involvement with the mailers and suspect that they are an attempt to sway midterm election outcomes and damage the organization’s reputation.
“These messages were deliberately distributed in a manner calculated to cause maximum harm to TENT and to create confusion and strife among the Texas electorate,” a spokesperson for TENT stated in an email.
Mimi Marziani, one of TENT’s attorneys, noted that while the pamphlet mimicked the “look and feel” of TENT’s legitimate materials, it combined resources with information that the organization does not endorse, including details about the legal process for minors to be recognized as adults.
Stogner reported that her constituents are both angry and worried about their children encountering the content in the mailers. She also commented that if the pamphlets were intended to rally conservative voters, the tactic was counterproductive.
“If we were actually worried about kids and their safety, no one would be sending propaganda to spread that message further on television ads, in text messages, in written whatever,” she said, emphasizing the need to focus on genuine child protection rather than spreading divisive messages.
The investigation launched by Stogner follows two letters written by state Representative Jeff Leach, a Republican from Plano, which requested Attorney General Ken Paxton to look into the origins of the mailers as well as a series of text messages that also referenced TENT.
Leach’s initial letter, prompted by the texts, urged Paxton to examine possible violations of a state law concerning student-organized groups and the materials taught in public schools. His subsequent letter sought to identify the actual sender of the mailers.
“Since sending that letter one week ago, I have received new information raising the possibility that the communications and associated toolkit may not originate from the group whose name it was sent under,” Leach wrote.
