Texas trans rights group asks court to expose who’s sending fake flyers to outrage conservatives

A Texas transgender rights organization has filed a petition in state court seeking to uncover who is behind an impersonation campaign it says has reached thousands of Texas residents ahead of the November 3 general election.The Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, says an unknown party has distributed mailers and text messages falsely claiming to represent the organization to residents across the state. Some contain inflammatory messages that TENT says it neither created nor authorized.TENT announced during a Thursday afternoon press briefing that it had filed a petition in Travis County court. Mimi Marziani, an attorney representing TENT, said the impersonation campaign has had a staggering impact.“This incident has led to extraordinary damage to TENT as an organization, and also to threats that continue to come in against TENT staff,” Marziani told reporters during a Zoom call.Marziani said TENT filed a petition under Rule 202 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The rule lets parties seek court authorization to conduct depositions before formally filing a lawsuit, which could help them identify those responsible and assess possible legal claims.“It is our belief, based on the content and timing of the messages and mailer, that it is a single, coordinated campaign and it is organized by a single entity or a single payer,” Marziani said.Related: Ahead of elections in hostile Texas, someone is impersonating trans advocates — by text and now by mailInflammatory mailers target Republican households ahead of electionThe general election is less than two weeks away, with Texas facing an unusually large number of competitive races, according to the Texas Tribune. Transgender rights have become a flashpoint in national and state politics, leading TENT to suspect the impersonation campaign is politically motivated, Marziani said.Marziani said the materials were inflammatory and misrepresented TENT’s work. “Obviously, these were sent to co