Pamphlets described as resource guides for LGBTQ+ students are being mailed to households across Texas, sparking criticism from conservatives. However, the mailers link back to a company formed last month in Wyoming, causing confusion about the group’s origins.
“It seems kind of real at first, but then I quickly realized it’s definitely rage bait,” said Andrew Neilson, who received the pamphlet but does not have any children.
As early voting began Monday, social media posts began circulating surrounding the mailer, which is said to have been sent by the “Texas Transgender Student Union.”
“People are frightened because they’re wondering how they know they have kids,” Neilson said, and the truth is they don’t. “They’re just sending it to anybody.”
The address on the mailer is located in the Houston area, but KSAT’s sister station KPRC visited the location Wednesday and did not find any offices. They did note, however, the address looks similar to the mailing address used by a legitimate transgender student group that was mentioned multiple times throughout the brochure:
The Texas Transgender Student Union is a limited liability corporation filed in Sheridan, Wyoming.
The organizer of Texas Transgender Student Union said it is a third-party that registers LLCs from across the country, and cannot share details about its client for privacy reasons.
The third-party company said it intends to separate itself from the LLC, and that it had no way of knowing the intentions of the company it helped organize.
Wyoming does not make publicly available any other information regarding companies organized in the state.
Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said the timing is intentional.
“This has been sent out right at the start of the early voting period,” Jones said, “to parents of pre-K through 12th grade students with the goal of eliciting a negative reaction.”
The mailer includes factually inaccurate information, such as children may transition without their parents’ permission, which is illegal in Texas.
Jones said it is intended to sway people’s opinions as they head to the polls.
“This is designed to get people to think about this issue,” Jones said, “and when they think about this issue, realize that Republicans share their values on this issue more than do Democrats, and therefore go out to vote for Republican candidates.”
Jones said the pamphlet could be an effective political tool, because it obscures its purpose.
“If the mailer said something about (a candidate) supporting these positions, that would cue people that this is political and that it was just designed to distract them,” Jones said. “But this is done in a very subtle and effective way, so it’s not going to be clear to all voters that this has been done for a politically motivated reason.”
The pamphlet cites multiple LGBTQ+ rights organizations who denied involvement in the letter, and said that they are receiving threats and harassment as a result of their inclusion.
Those organizations, along with others across the state, declined to comment on this story for fears of further harassment.
Experts worry, however, the mailers could also put children at risk of harassment, particularly those who come from families who might not be supportive of people who are transgender or identify as LGBTQ+.
KPRC’s Bill Barajas and the Texas Tribune contributed to this report.
