Mystery ‘student resource guide’ reaches Texarkana homes from untraceable sender
TEXARKANA, Texas – Mailers addressed to the “students” of Texarkana households are arriving from a group that appears to exist only on paper. The advocacy organization the mailers promote says it had nothing to do with them.
The glossy fold-out, titled “Texas Trans & LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide,” is part of a statewide mailing that began landing as early voting opened for the Nov. 3 election. Families in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, the Panhandle, Bryan-College Station and Southeast Texas have reported getting the same piece.
A copy shared with TXKtoday.com was addressed to “Students Of The [family name] Family” at a home in Texarkana’s 75501 ZIP code. TXKtoday.com is not identifying the family.
Who it says it’s from
The return address reads “Texas Transgender Student Union, 1611 W Airport Blvd., Suite 123, Meadows Place, TX 77477.”
That address does not appear to exist. The U.S. Postal Service’s address lookup tool does not recognize it as valid, the Houston Chronicle reported. CBS News Texas reported that a nearly identical address, 11611 W. Airport Blvd., leads to a private mailbox at a UPS Store in the Houston area.
The group has no apparent website or social media presence, according to CBS News Texas and The Dallas Morning News.
Wyoming Secretary of State records show a “Texas Transgender Student Union LLC” was formed Sept. 2, about six weeks before the mailers arrived, according to The Dallas Morning News, CBS News Texas and the Houston Chronicle. The filing lists a registered agent office in Sheridan, Wyoming, and does not identify who created the company.
That Sheridan address is used by close to 300,000 of Wyoming’s roughly 830,000 limited liability companies, The Sheridan Press reported earlier this year. A Northwest Registered Agent employee told The Dallas Morning News that some organizations use the service to file paperwork and remain anonymous. The company told MS NOW it had “no way of knowing” its clients’ intent.
The group it points to says it wasn’t them
The mailer calls the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, “an organization trusted by students.” It lists TENT’s website, promotes TENT’s “Trans Texas Takeover” fall tour and gives tour dates in 10 Texas cities, including Tyler.
TENT says it did not send the mailers.
“These text messages and mailers were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT and are not affiliated with our organization,” the group said in a statement that now takes up most of its homepage.
TENT told MS NOW that its address was published and that photos of its staff were included in the mailing materials. The group said it has suspended the tour “due to increased safety threats and risks.” It told The Dallas Morning News it is exploring legal action and is “determined to get to the bottom of who is behind these malicious attacks.”
Resource Center, a Dallas LGBTQ+ organization also listed in the mailer, told The Dallas Morning News it was not involved and had not authorized use of its name or website.
It started with text messages
The mailers followed a wave of text messages that began Oct. 10 and 11, according to KFDM and MS NOW. The texts offered a “complete guide on bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school” and linked to TENT’s website.
Several recipients said online that the texts seemed aimed at self-identified Republicans, The Texas Tribune reported.
TENT said it did not send those either. On Oct. 14, lawyers for the group sent a cease-and-desist letter to messaging companies Peerless Network and Infobip, saying an unnamed client was using their platforms to impersonate TENT. The letter said the texts could be an attempt to “manufacture a pretext for legal action” against the group, according to the Tribune.
The day before, state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, had asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate TENT for “circumventing and violating” Senate Bill 12. The 2025 law bars public school clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Leach also asked the attorney general’s office to find out how the senders got Texans’ names and phone numbers.
Paxton’s office has not publicly responded, according to several outlets.
Who would pay for this?
No one has claimed responsibility.
Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, and Democrat James Talarico are in what polling shows is one of the most competitive Texas elections in decades. Roughly half a billion dollars has been spent on the race, NBC 5 reported, and transgender issues have been a central line of attack. Both campaigns told CBS News Texas they had nothing to do with the mailer.
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the mailers reached many Republican and Hispanic households during the first two days of early voting.
Anna Massoglia, a campaign finance expert and editor at MuckRock, told NBC 5 that because the mailer “does not mention an actual candidate,” it falls into a “grey area” of election law. She said the timing could be meant to provoke an emotional response, create confusion or motivate voters.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, told CBS News Texas he suspected conservative groups sent it “to fire up their conservative base.”
“A legitimate group does not send something like that from a fake address with a fake name,” former Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, told the Houston Chronicle.
The Federal Election Commission currently lacks a quorum, which limits its ability to act on complaints, NBC 5 reported.
What the mailer says
Inside, the guide tells students who are “trans, nonbinary, or questioning” that they “don’t have to figure everything out by yourself.” It suggests finding a trusted adult, such as a teacher, counselor or relative, and lists youth organizations in Houston, Austin and Dallas.
It also describes how a Texas minor can petition a court for emancipation and what to know about seeking care out of state. It lists Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Texas and Texas Law Help as resources.