The Texas Supreme Court on Friday blocked a deposition seeking to uncover the identity of the person or group behind the Texas Transgender Student Union, which sent out pamphlets in mid-October claiming to support trans students but appeared to be an attempt to rile conservative voters.
A Travis County district judge ordered the deposition earlier this week, but after attorneys for the student union objected, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the order 15 minutes before the questioning began.
The Supreme Court, which did not explain the reasons for its decision, followed an emergency motion filed Thursday evening, said Mimi Marziani, an attorney for the Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT. In anticipation of an early trial, TENT hopes to learn the identity of the organizers of the student union, formed in September in Wyoming and whose address was linked to a post office box in the Houston area.
The letters, which included references to TENT and a photo of its members used without permission, were addressed to “students” in Texas homes and encouraged them to speak with a “safe adult” or one of several advocacy groups if their parents do not support their gender identity.
Online backlash, largely directed at TENT, followed from prominent conservative commentators.
Although the person or group behind the Wyoming organization is still unknown, Marziani said TENT believes it now has enough information to pursue some of those responsible. She declined to answer specific questions before filing litigation.
A counterfeiting investigation into the mailers was opened last week by Western Texas District Attorney Sarah Stogner, who said the pamphlets appeared to be designed to motivate conservative voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Marziani said TENT is cooperating with the investigation.
The deposition blocked Friday was the second ordered by Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer.
Before the controversial mailers reached Texas homes, text messages were sent across the state also referencing TENT’s website, prompting a Republican state lawmaker to call for an investigation into the organization. The first deposition ordered by Soifer revealed that the texts were sent on behalf of the “Republican Women’s Caucus Fund” and an individual named John Braun.
The Republican Women’s Caucus Fund denied any involvement in the texts or letters in a statement to the Texas Tribune. A Republican Washington state senator, John Braun, whose campaign shares a treasurer with the caucus fund, also denied involvement in a statement to the Texas Observer. Marziani said TENT believed the texts and mailers — sent less than a week apart — came from the same entity, but acknowledged that at this time there was no evidence linking the two.
TENT has until 10 a.m. Monday to respond to the student union group’s emergency petition to the Texas Supreme Court, according to its Friday order. The motion was filed by Chris Hilton, the attorney representing the Wyoming group who previously worked in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and represented Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial before the Texas Senate.
