Monday night’s Lewisville ISD Board meeting was a bit more colorful and eventful than usual as dozens of protesters supporting Hebron High School teacher Rachmad Tjachyadi rallied outside of the district's Administration Center and sat in on the meeting to advocate for the teacher’s reinstatement.
In February, Tjachyadi, known as “Mr. T’ to students, was placed on administrative leave by the district when a video of him wearing a pink dress went viral online. The case quickly drew national attention, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott even using the occasion as a way to rally support for his school voucher push, something that failed to gain traction even after five legislative sessions in 2023.
Monday night's efforts were organized by the Trans Empowerment Coalition, Equality Texas, Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, Dallas Asian American Historical Society, Dallas Social Queer Organization, Carrollton Pride, Dallas Radical Fairies and the Dallas Anti-War Committee. This board meeting was a “work session,” as opposed to the typical board meeting where public comments are more commonly received. That distinction didn’t prevent Stacey Monroe, the director of the Trans Empowerment Coalition, from having her voice heard, however.
“We were told that they [the board] had already begun trying to speak with Mr. T,” Monroe told the Observer over the phone on Tuesday morning. “So we found a workaround on how to sign up to speak even though it was only a work session. Even though we followed all the rules they put in place, and yet, they still denied us from speaking. But we made it known that. hey, we’re still showing up, we’re still going to rally. We knew they would have to walk inside the building and they were going to see us and know that we’re here to say no to hate.”
Disrupted Work Session
Many of the rally members were allowed inside to observe the meeting, but Monroe wasn’t keen to simply sit quietly. Loudly chanting “lead with love, not with hate, Lewisville must reinstate,” Monroe disrupted the board work session as it began.“I did that because I did not want them to silence us,” she said. “We did everything by the rules. We found an agenda item that we could comment on, and they still tried to silence us. I said, no, we’re not going to be silenced, I will be interrupting this meeting and they will hear from us, they will know that they should not stand with hate, most importantly.”
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the district told the Observer via email "public comments for a LISD workshop meeting must be directly tied to an item on the agenda. None of the requests to speak met that requirement, and that was communicated via to all those who submitted a request to speak."
One of Monroe’s main goals is that people do not forget that the district placed a very popular, effective teacher on leave, not a teacher with a checkered past or problematic background. Double standards and a school district looking to save face while not sticking to its own nondiscrimination policy — not complaints from students or parents — has landed Tjachyadi in this situation, according to Monroe.
“We wouldn't be in this situation if it had been a woman wearing pants of course,” she said. “Because this is a man wearing a dress and outwardly expressing their gender identity it then became an issue because its not quote-unquote the societal norm, but I think society is evolving and that minds and hearts are changing, but there are still some folks who choose willful ignorance. No one from the Lewisville ISD has said ‘Yeah, we need to get rid of Mr. T.’ No, we’ve heard just the opposite from parents, students and faculty in the ISD. There are more than 20,000 signatures on the Change.org petition that are saying, ‘Yeah, we need him back.’”
For now, Monroe said Tjachyadi is not involving himself with any of the protests on the advice of counsel while a resolution is being negotiated. Monroe’s group and others, including GLAAD and Equality Texas, plan to appear before the Lewisville ISD board again on March 18 when they may have greater opportunity to speak to the board members. The goal now is the same it has been for weeks: to see Tjachyadi back in the halls of Hebron High School.
“The best things that can come out of this are: say no to hate, take Mr. T back and let his students continue their education, because I can only imagine how much it is affecting them to be missing this educator who has created this safe space for them because they may not have that now,” she said. “Also, give him an apology and make sure you follow your own policies moving forward and to not let fear-mongering let you lead with hate instead of leading with love.”
