GOP governor promises to “end” careers of trans & gender nonconforming teachers

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said that he wants to “end” the presence of transgender and gender non-conforming teachers in his state. His promise could run afoul of a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that forbids anti-LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination as a form of sex-based discrimination.

In Abbott’s speech last Friday at the Young Conservatives of Texas convention in Dallas, he referred to Rachmad Tjachyadi, a now-former teacher in Lewisville, Texas, who resigned last March after being targeted by anti-LGBTQ+ hate influencer Chaya Raichik, who goes by Libs of TikTok on social media.

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“They had a high school teacher who was a man who would go to school dressed as a woman in a dress, high heels, and makeup,” Abbott told the convention. “What do you think is going through the mind of the students that’s in that classroom? Are they focusing on the subject that this person is trying to teach? I don’t know.”

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“This person, a man, dressing as a woman, in a public high school in the state of Texas, he’s trying to normalize the concept that this type of behavior is OK,” Abbott continued. “This type of behavior is not OK, and this is the type of behavior that we want to make sure we end in the state of Texas.”

Last March, Raichik posted images of Tjachyadi wearing dresses during various school events. Raichik claimed without evidence that he had a “fetish for wearing women’s clothing.”

Raichik’s posts were reposted by anti-LGBTQ+ figures, including Abbott, who used the “controversy” to tout his support for school voucher initiatives. He wrote in an X post, “No parent should be forced by the state to send their child to this school.” (Critics of such voucher programs say they funnel taxpayer dollars away from public education and into private schools, which can reject students.)

Over 20,000 people signed a petition in support of Tjachyadi, calling him a dedicated and hard-working teacher. An internal investigation by the Lewisville Independent School District concluded that Tjachyadi had not violated any school policies. Nevertheless, he resigned. Parents said targeting him ultimately harmed students by depriving them of a committed educator.

Abbott’s pledge to “end” the presence of trans and gender non-conforming teachers goes against the 2020 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County. In that case, the court ruled that anti-LGBTQ+ workplace discrimination violates federal laws against sex-based discrimination.

Nevertheless, Matt Rinaldi, the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, agreed with Abbott’s statement, writing via X, “@GregAbbott_TX is exactly right.”

Commenting on Abbott’s remarks, trans investigative journalist Erin Reed noted, “Many people are watching to see if the Republican Party leans on anti-trans politics going into the 2024 election. This may signal at least some in Texas will. If so, it may not turn out well – anti-trans campaigning failed heavily in 2022 and 2023 in elections.”

Abbott has a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ actions

Abbott has attempted to classify gender-affirming care as a form of child abuse so that the state could take trans children away from their parents if their parents affirmed their identities. The state supreme court has stopped the implementation of that order for many trans-supportive families that were being investigated.

During his tenure as governor, the state has banned doctors from providing gender-affirming care to transgender minors, despite how such care is supported by major medical associations in the U.S. Trans students are also not allowed to participate in school sports as their gender in the state. The state government has gone so far as to demand private medical records of trans teens.

Abbott signed a drag ban last June. By September, a judge ruled the law unconstitutional. Abbott has also signed a ban on “sexually explicit” materials in school libraries that are being used to target LGBTQ+ books, a law banning local governments from providing anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, and a ban on diversity programs at public universities that has since been used to eliminate LGBTQ+ spaces at public universities and HIV testing programs.

Abbott’s discriminatory policies compelled LGBTQ+ advocacy groups to file a petition to have the U.N. investigate Texas for possible anti-LGBTQ+ human rights violations.