The Texas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a deposition that was meant to identify the people or group behind the Texas Transgender Student Union. The group mailed pamphlets in mid-October. A Travis County district judge had ordered the deposition earlier in the week. Lawyers for the student union objected, and the high court blocked it 15 minutes before questioning was to begin. The court did not explain its ruling.
Mimi Marziani, a lawyer for the Transgender Education Network of Texas, or TENT, said the group wants to learn who is behind the union before an expected lawsuit. The union formed in September in Wyoming and had an address linked to a Houston-area post office box. The mailers referred to TENT and used a photo of its members without permission. West Texas District Attorney Sarah Stogner opened a forgery investigation last week and said the pamphlets appeared designed to motivate conservative voters before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Marziani said TENT is cooperating with that investigation.
Earlier text messages referencing TENT were sent statewide. An earlier deposition showed the texts were sent on behalf of the Republican Women Caucus Fund and a man named John Braun. Both denied involvement. Marziani said TENT believes the texts and mailers came from the same source but acknowledged there is no evidence linking them yet. TENT has until 10 a.m. Monday to respond to the emergency motion filed with the Supreme Court.