A Texas teacher has chosen to resign after a video of him wearing a pink dress on campus for a dress-up day was shared online by the right-wing X account Libs of TikTok.
Science teacher Rachmad Tjachyadi, affectionately known to his students as Mr. T, had been placed on administrative leave by the Lewisville Independent School District the day after after the clip was posted online last month. A review found that Tjachyadi hadn’t violated any policies with his choice of clothing on Hebron High School’s Spirit Day, but he opted to leave his job anyway amid the furor targeting him and the school.
“It has been very difficult to see the hateful comments on social media about me and about Hebron High School, and that has greatly influenced my decision to remove myself from the narrative,” Tjachyadi wrote in a letter to students announcing his resignation, according to KXAS-TV.
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The Libs of TikTok X account—which has been blamed for inspiring harassment campaigns and even bomb threats against the people and institutions it targets—shared a brief video of Tjachyadi wearing a pink dress and hat on Valentine’s Day. “UNREAL. This is an actual teacher in @LewisvilleISD named Rachmad Tjachyadi.” A follow-up post featuring pictures of Tjachyadi also tagged the school district superintendent and asked if she “thinks it’s acceptable for a male teacher to show up to teach cosplaying as a woman and dress in drag at school.”
The footage prompted calls from other social media users for Tjachyadi to be fired, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said of the video: “No parent should be forced by the state to send their child to this school.”
The district placed Tjachyadi on administrative leave, with the school’s principal telling parents that the measure was “standard procedure” while the “district reviews the situation.” An online petition calling for Tjachyadi to be reinstated, which amassed more than 20,500 signatures, argued that he did not “deserve to be defamed and lose his job” over the incident, adding that “many students in his class encouraged him to wear the dress in the first place.”
“He has been an inspiration to many students, and has created a space where everyone can feel valued and safe,” the petition said. “He has pushed many students to become better and shows genuine care for his students.”
An internal investigation by the district found that it does not have any specific policies relating to staff attire on dress-up days, according to The Dallas Morning News. In his resignation letter, Tjachyadi thanked the district, school, and students for their support but said he didn’t want to “remove the focus from the great things our students and staff are doing, and sadly that is what all the external voices are trying to do.”
“I want each and every one of you to always remember that you are valued and worthy of respect just as you are,” he added. “I am glad I was able to be a part of your educational experience at Hebron, and I wish you all the very best!”
Libs of Tik Tok on Wednesday shared a post celebrating the account’s “tremendous impact,” citing among its achievements the “Texas drag queen teacher” who resigned “after LoTT exposed him.”
