Texas teacher placed on leave for wearing women's clothing, sought to teach 'baby gays' how to 'vogue'
School district says 'it would be natural for our families to have questions'
A cross-dressing Texas high school teacher who was placed on leave after showing up to school in women’s clothing publicly advocated for using the school’s LGBT club to teach “baby gays” how to “vogue.”
Rachmad Tjachyadi, a chemistry teacher at Hebron High School in Carrollton, about 15 minutes west of Dallas, went viral on Feb. 14 after a video shared on social media showed the educator wearing a pink dress with matching boots and hat while he walked the halls as students looked on during a school spirit event.
UNREAL. This is an actual teacher in @LewisvilleISD named Rachmad Tjachyadi. I’m told he also sometimes shows up to teach dressed in full drag and has a f*tish for wearing women’s clothing.
How is this acceptable?! pic.twitter.com/psYKOWMenJ— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 15, 2024 Get Our Latest News for FREE
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Other images later emerged showing Tjacyahi wearing a tutu while writing on a chalkboard and dressed in full costume as a character from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”
After the initial tweet went viral, officials with Lewisville ISD announced on Feb. 15 that Tjacyahi was placed on leave pending a district review.
The statement reads in part: “We are aware of the video and the staff member has been placed on administrative leave while the district reviews the situation, which is standard procedure. It would be natural for our families to have questions about this situation, but because this is a personnel matter currently under review, there is no additional information the district can share.”
Following the announcement, students and other supporters launched an online petition to “bring back” Tjacyahi to school. The petition has garnered 14,850 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
In response to videos of Tjacyahi, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted this statement: “No parent should be forced by the state to send their child to this school. I'm fighting for the right of parents to send their children elsewhere. Parents deserve school choice in Texas. The candidates I am backing will deliver that school choice.”
The Dallas Asian American Historical Society also released a statement saying the organization “stands in full solidarity” with Tjacyahi, who immigrated to the U.S. from Indonesia in 1995 under the name Wén Hàn Zhāng, according to the organization.
In a Facebook comment from Feb. 17, 2022, bearing Tjacyahi’s name and profile image, the chemistry teacher sought help with teaching members of Hebron High School’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) — whom he called “baby gays” — to dance suggestively, or “vogue.”
The post read: “I need someone who can teach my GSA Baby Gays how to VOGUE properly!! The GSA kiddos want to present voguing during a cultural festival at our school in a few weeks.”
Tjacyahi appeared to hold an active role in the school’s GSA, appearing in several posts on the group’s Instagram page.
One photo shows Tjacyahi surrounded by several students celebrating Black History Month, with a caption recognizing LGBT activist and drag queen “Marsha P. Johnson.”
Another post from March 2022 on the Hebron GSA page shows what appear to be high school students dressed in drag.
Tjacyahi was also involved in another non-school district initiative called Forward Slash Project, a “queer archive” project which seeks “knowledge disruption that opens pedagogical space for queerness as an ideality that can be used to re/imagine and re/think futurity.”
According to Tjacyahi’s bio on the site, he seeks to “utilize dress-up days at his schools to show off his feminine side in the education settings. His goal as an educator is not only to educate the students in science but also to be an out [LGBT] role model in a professional setting.”
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of BACKWARDS DAD: a children's book for grownups. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
