Anonymous texts mislead Missouri voters about trans kids before Election Day, advocates warn

Anonymous text messages offering help obtaining gender-affirming surgery for children are misleading Missouri voters about Tuesday’s election, according to Trans Liberty, a transgender rights organization investigating their source.

The warning follows a controversy in Texas, where texts and mailers invoked a trans advocacy organization without its permission, prompting court proceedings and a criminal investigation.

According to Trans Liberty, the Missouri messages begin: “Do you know a child that is interested in gender-affirming surgery? We can help!” They claim that “protecting a child’s right to have this surgery is on the ballot this Tuesday.”

Related: Who sent fake transgender advocacy texts in Texas? Court records name GOP women’s group

But Missouri already prohibits gender-affirming surgery for minors. Rejecting Tuesday’s constitutional amendment would not repeal that law.

“Just like in Texas, someone is putting words in our community’s mouth to scare Missouri voters days before an election,” Samantha Boucher, Trans Liberty’s executive director, said in a statement Sunday.

Trans Liberty said it did not send the unsigned messages, which identify no financial sponsor and link to Missouri’s official polling-place lookup. The organization has not established who sent them or how widely they circulated.

The texts appear to reference Amendment 3, which would repeal reproductive rights protections Missouri voters approved in 2024, including abortion access through fetal viability. It would allow abortion restrictions with exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, and rape or incest before 12 weeks. It would also constitutionally prohibit gender transition procedures for minors, including surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone therapy, with specified medical exceptions.

Missouri’s existing surgery ban took effect in 2023 and has no expiration date. The state Supreme Court upheld the law in January. Tuesday’s decision concerns additional constitutional restrictions.

Related: Republican DA launches investigation to find culprit behind fake trans mailers in Texas

In Texas, unsolicited texts directed recipients to the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, in October. Separate mailers also invoked the organization, which said its materials were used without permission and reported threats against staff. West Texas District Attorney Sarah Stogner opened a possible forgery investigation into the mailers.

Court-ordered disclosures subsequently identified John Braun and the Republican Women’s Caucus Fund as clients associated with the Texas texts, The Advocate reported Friday. The fund denied involvement; its attorney further disputed the identification Sunday.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked questioning intended to identify the people behind the mailers’ listed sender, Texas Transgender Student Union LLC, a company recently registered in Wyoming.

In Missouri, Trans Liberty is asking recipients to send screenshots showing the sending number, date, and time to ops@transliberty.org.

“Missourians deserve to know who paid for it,” Boucher said, “and we intend to find out.”