A transgender public school teacher in New York’s Hudson Valley says she was taunted by students, repeatedly misgendered by colleagues, and forced out of her job by the administration after parents launched a vitriolic social media campaign against her.
Tonia Daniels, who was employed as a substitute in Dutchess County, claims kids in her classes laughed at her, asked continually if she “was a boy or a girl,” and, in one instance, was mockingly called “sir” by a fifth-grader.
When Daniels reported the ongoing situation to higher-ups, her concerns were thoroughly ignored — until she was ultimately fired for candidly “disclosing her gender identity” to a student who had inquired about it, according to a federal human rights lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Daniels, who worked as an educator for 35-plus years, now works cleaning houses and as a rideshare driver, said attorney Jillian Weiss, who is representing Daniels and is herself transgender.
In an emailed statement, Daniels said, “I have been devoted to my education profession and my students for many years. Thankfully, I was quite successful, and spent many happy years as an educator and administrator. I wish that the School District, and the parents who pushed for my firing, could have looked beyond their bias against trans people, which trumped my many years of experience educating students. I am filing this lawsuit so no other teachers need ever face such job bias in the education profession in the future.”
In her own statement, Weiss said, “People used to think that only white Christian men could be effective public school teachers. We have learned as a nation through hard lessons that such stereotyping is not only morally wrong, but incorrect… All Americans deserve an equal chance to work hard and earn a living for themselves and their families, without fear of being targeted for being themselves.”
In an email, Arlington Central School District Superintendent Phil Benante told The Independent: “Our district remains committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment for all students and staff. While we do not comment on personnel matters, we are confident that the district’s actions, when scrutinized, will reflect these values.”
Daniels’s lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, comes amid a deluge of anti-trans actions by the Trump administration, which went on the offensive against transgender and nonbinary Americans immediately upon retaking the White House.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order recognizing “only two genders, male and female,” after which, among other things, the federal government leaned on states to stop private hospitals from providing gender-affirming care to trans patients, the U.S. military banned trans recruits from joining the ranks, the Bureau of Prisons began transferring trans women into men’s facilities, and the Social Security Administration removed all references to trans and intersex people from its website. Trump has also vowed to bar transgender athletes from obtaining visas to participate in the 2028 Olympic Games, which are set to be held in Los Angeles.
Daniels started subbing throughout the Arlington Central School District in February 2024, according to her complaint. At orientation on her first day, she was misgendered by a member of the HR staff, but no action was taken to correct it, the complaint states.
A week later, the complaint continues, a group of students asked Daniels if she was male or female, a query which was soon followed by a remark from a school custodian who questioned her gender identity, asking, “What are you doing in my building?”
In mid-March 2024, Daniels was teaching at Arthur May Intermediate School when a classroom full of students “laughed at her because of her gender identity and gender expression,” the complaint goes on. But, it says, when Daniels told the principal what had happened, “her concerns were minimized, excused and dismissed.”
Daniels’s complaint says district policy requires teachers to “empathetically” respond to every prejudiced remark, each time one occurs, because “if biased incidents go unaddressed it can send an unintended, yet powerful, message to all who witnessed it that that kind of behavior is acceptable to you.”
Shortly thereafter, Daniels was assigned to Titusville Intermediate School, where her class included a group of unruly students who were bullying others, the complaint states. It says Daniels attempted to address the “negatively charged atmosphere” by relating a personal anecdote from her own childhood about coming out as trans that she hoped would “create empathy” for the pupils being picked on.
The next day, according to the complaint, the head of HR told Daniels she was no longer allowed to teach at Titusville, claiming parents had “communicated to the principal at Titusville that they did not wish to have their children hear a story about a transgender person.”
“He stated that the parents asked to have her removed from her position as a substitute at the school,” the complaint says, adding that “parents were calling the principal incessantly and posting on social media about Ms. Daniels.”
The HR head told Daniels that “his main concern was to quiet the parents at Titusville by restricting her from teaching at the school,” according to the complaint.
That April, Daniels was assigned to two different schools elsewhere in the district, the complaint states.
In one, the complaint says, students in an elementary school class “seemed puzzled about her gender expression,” and Daniels told them she used she/her pronouns.
“In response, one student, who had previously been acting out in the class, said loudly, ‘Yes, sir,’ with an emphasis on the ‘sir,’” according to the complaint.
Daniels asked the student if he meant to use the word “sir,” to which he replied that he had, the complaint states.
In the other, a young student at the Overlook School asked Daniels if she was “a boy or a girl,” the complaint says. It says Daniels replied that she is “a girl… although I used to be a boy,” and that the student “appeared satisfied” with the answer.
At the end of the month, Daniels got a call from the head of HR, who told her she was no longer welcome to teach at any school in the district, according to the complaint.
“He stated explicitly that it was because of disclosing her gender identity to the [second-grade] student,” the complaint alleges. “He also stated this was his decision because of parents who had repeatedly called to ask that she no longer be allowed to teach in the Arlington School District.”
Daniels is now asking a judge to reinstate her to her teaching position, to permanently enjoin the school district from discriminating against trans teachers, and for compensatory damages, plus attorneys’ fees.
Gender-affirming care lowers the risk of depression in transgender adults
Workers fear Trump is leading new Lavender Scare purge of LGBTQ+ federal employees
Bank of England drops diversity rules for City firms as US rolls back DEI initiatives
Bill Gates warns WH he can’t fill global health funding gaps
Elon Musk’s DOGE threats to USAID ‘likely violated the Constitution,’ judge rules
Trump admin gutting USAID ‘likely violated’ Constitution, says judge: Live updates
