Transgender North Texas teacher says she felt like she had to resign after viral video

    RED OAK, Texas (KTVT) -- A transgender teacher in Red Oak said she felt like she had to resign after a video of her went viral on social media.

Rosalyn Sandri said her small amount of joy twisted into something she never saw coming.

Sandri told CBS News Texas that she's been a teacher at Red Oak High School for three years and her transition was never an issue with the school district, until now.

"I ended up mentioning in the video that a lot of my students had gotten behind my transition and also had started calling me ma'am and miss and how happy that made me," she said.

Rosalyn Sandri said she felt like she had to resign after a viral video discussing being transgender.

Sandri said she began transitioning seven months ago and she alerted the Red Oak ISD administration before taking the first steps.

"I asked them basically for permission," she said. "Like, is this gonna be OK? And everybody embraced it from what I could see."

She said the video that went viral on TikTok was never meant to be a big deal.

It caught the attention of "Libs of TikTok," gaining 5 million views and the eyes of Rep. Brian Harrison.

He said, "I am demanding that this teacher be immediately terminated."

"Anybody who is going to teach young children that boys can become girls, especially someone who puts out public statements that he gets his gender euphoria," he said. "Gender euphoria from his young students. That's an outrage."

Harrison said he personally called the Red Oak ISD superintendent, Brenda Sanford. Within days, Sandri was handed resignation papers.

"Let me tell you what I want, and I want to be really clear on this because it's not complicated," Harrison said. "I do not want anybody – I do not care how you identify. I do not want anybody in a classroom in a position of authority teaching children that boys can be girls and girls can become boys."

Sandri said she is now seeking legal representation.

"Signing those papers, it was basically the end of my career," Sandri said. "I'm not going to get hired again as a teacher in Texas, and that hurts. It hurts I have to leave my students in the middle of the year…they keep on messaging me and asking if it's illegal to be a trans teacher."

Red Oak ISD told CBS News Texas that Sandri resigned on March 31 and like any other personnel matter, they will not talk about it.

According to the Red Oak ISD social media policy for employees, part of it says "Your freedom of speech is not free of consequences."

After all this, Sandri said she still wants to be a teacher if she can find a way.