The mailers and texts prompted calls for an investigation and hit some Austin-area nonprofits this week. They heavily reference the Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, and link to its website. TENT has said repeatedly that it did not create or authorize the campaigns.
In an Oct. 17 statement, TENT said it will keep monitoring the situation. "Trans Texans belong here," the group said. "This is our home and we're not going anywhere."
Northwest Registered Agent is a commercial service that says its clients include "thousands of legitimate business owners across the U.S." It says its role after an LLC forms is mostly to receive and forward official mail. "We have no way of knowing someone's intent when they're forming a new company," a company spokesperson said.
The fallout reached people who sent nothing. Preservation Austin told KXAN its phone number showed up next to TENT's name in search result previews, and executive director Lindsey Derrington said the calls that followed were "extremely hostile." Texans who opened the mailers got a guide with a trusted group's name on it and no honest sender behind it.
The company that handled the LLC's mail won't say who it was working for.