Families across the League City area are finding a glossy pamphlet in their mailboxes addressed to their children, claiming to offer transgender student resources. The organization whose branding it uses says it never sent it.

The pamphlet, titled "Texas Trans and LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide," lists a sender called the Texas Transgender Student Union out of Meadows Place. No statewide group by that name exists, according to multiple news outlets that investigated the mailer.

The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT), whose name and branding appear throughout the pamphlet, said in a statement that it had nothing to do with it: "TENT did not author, authorize, approve, or distribute these materials. Any and all materials are not affiliated with our organization and are impersonations."

Each copy is addressed to students in the household by name. The pamphlet discusses gender-affirming care, legal emancipation and seeking help outside Texas, KHOU reported.

The return address on the mailer traces to a UPS Store, not a functioning office, the Houston Chronicle reported. An LLC called Texas Transgender Student Union was formed in Wyoming in September. It used a Sheridan, Wyoming, address associated with a service that allows companies to conceal their owners' identities, the Chronicle found, citing investigative reporter Steve Monacelli.

Political timing

The mailers arrived as early voting began for the Nov. 3 midterm election. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, told KHOU the pamphlet contains no explicit political messaging but appears to serve a political purpose.

"It isn't uncommon to have misinformation or disingenuous mailers going out," Jones said. "What is different here, though, is that this is being sent out as a very apolitical, pro-trans mailer, but it isn't designed to have a pro-trans effect."

Jones said the mailer could push Republican-leaning and independent voters to turn out by raising parental anxiety about transgender issues ahead of the midterm.

The pamphlets followed a wave of fake text messages that also impersonated TENT. Those texts went out to Texans in early October, offering links about gender-affirming care and school bathroom guides, KXAN reported. TENT confirmed those texts were not sent by the group and issued a cease-and-desist to two digital messaging companies.

TENT said the impersonations triggered what it described as an onslaught of hate and threats of violence against the organization.

Calls for investigation

State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate the texts, according to KXAN. Both Leach and Paxton are on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan also questioned the mailer's origins. He told the Houston Chronicle that "a legitimate group does not send something like that from a fake address with a fake name, especially on the first day of early voting."

The Concho Observer, an independent outlet in San Angelo, estimated the statewide mailing would cost between $3 million and $4.4 million based on bulk USPS rates for more than 11.5 million Texas households. TENT said it does not have the resources for a mailing on that scale.

Jones said identifying those responsible could raise questions about campaign finance violations if investigators establish that families were targeted for political reasons. TENT said it is investigating and may pursue legal action.

Early voting in Galveston County runs through Oct. 30.