Texas trans rights group says text message impersonation campaign sparked hate

A Texas transgender rights group says it was impersonated in a text message campaign this week, which it said spurred online backlash and calls for a state investigation.

The Transgender Education Network focuses on education and policy advocacy for the trans and broader LGBTQ+ communities in Texas. Earlier this week, Texas residents began to receive text messages linking to the organization’s online materials, namely resources about how to navigate anti-LGBTQ+ school policies, the Texas Tribune reported.

“We are aware of text messages that have been circulated concerning [the Transgender Education Network] that appear to have been issued by or on behalf of the organization,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday. “These text messages were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by [the Transgender Education Network] and are not affiliated with our organization. The texts do not represent the official position or communications of the organization.”

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While at least some of the materials come from the Transgender Education Network, the organization alleged the texts were sent by an unidentified client. On Wednesday, the organization issued a cease-and-desist to two text message companies, Peerless Network and Infobip, urging them to block further messages from the text campaign.

“Because the messages reference nothing but [the Transgender Education Network’s] domain, a reasonable recipient will conclude that [Transgender Education Network] sent them, and that [Transgender Education Network] is texting strangers about sensitive subjects without their consent,” reads the cease-and-desist letter, according to the Tribune. “That impression is false, and it is already causing irreparable damage to our client’s reputation.”

Some Texas residents alleged that the texts were sent specifically to Republicans and their social networks, according to the Tribune. The text messages brought the organization “an onslaught of hate and threats via our social media and email channels,” a spokesperson for the organization wrote in a statement to the paper.

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One state lawmaker has urged the state to investigate the organization over the texts. Texas Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican representing Collin County, sent a letter to the state attorney general’s office Tuesday asking it to investigate whether the organization was violating a recent state law prohibiting certain LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts in the state’s public schools.

The Transgender Education Network said it will continue to work on behalf of LGBTQ+ Texas residents, despite the difficulties the alleged impersonation has posed.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and remain committed to our organizational values of unequivocal support for trans Texans, their families, and their loved ones,” the group wrote in its Wednesday Instagram post. “Trans Texans belong here, this is our home and we’re not going anywhere.”