‘I’m Afraid’: Award-Winning Teacher Says She’s Being Targeted For Wearing XX/XY Shirt To Meeting

“They get an anonymous complaint — nobody said anything that day,” Adair, who was named teacher of the year at the 2025 Teacher Freedom Summit, said. “I would say people don’t even know what it means, honestly.”

“I told one of my friends that yesterday about getting in trouble and she goes, ‘that’s math.’ I said, ‘well, no, it’s actually genetics.’”

A week after the meeting, Adair was called in, given a questionnaire about why she had worn the shirt and was instructed not to wear clothing with controversial messaging going forward.

The reprimand has made Adair fearful for her job and worried that she might receive heightened scrutiny down the road. But beyond her individual case, onlookers like Ryan Walters, the CEO of the Teachers Freedom Alliance (TFA), an organization advocating for alternatives to teacher unions, believe her situation is emblematic of larger power struggles in schools over ideology.

Her case sparked some social media outrage:

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Get an attorney and sue the crap out of the school

— Nothing Required Studio (@SoundasPresence) August 22, 2026

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Teacher who battled union fears she’s being targeted after shirt complaint: 'I'm afraid' Stacy Adair says she was given a questionnaire and told not to wear clothing with controversial messaging going forward. Democrats Only want to hear their message. Your ideas are forbidden. pic.twitter.com/NLZ1nwgrmO

— john walters (@johnnyalmost) August 22, 2026

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Homeschool your children people. Bankrupt the indoctrination that is public schools.

— Brian Beans (@BrianBo50703582) August 22, 2026

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Adair’s case began when she selected one of her many “word” shirts to the professional development event — a routine training for teachers during the back-to-school season.

She noted that her shirts aren’t out of the ordinary for her. In fact, she threw on a “Math facts” t-shirt to meet a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet — Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

She noted that the school district has a policy against apparel that is political or “disruptive to the educational environment.”

But Adair said she didn’t see her shirt as overtly political or disruptive — especially as there were no students present at the training event.

“I mean I just grab a shirt I feel like wearing that day,” Adair said.

“I just wear these shirts because they’re facts. I just feel like someone has to be stating the truth,” she added.

Asked why she thinks she might face future repercussions for the XX ≠ XY shirt, Adair said she’s been expecting this for some time.

Long before the write-up, she helped strip the teacher union’s grip on her district.

In 2021, she helped topple two members of her school board who were backed by the union. Without them, the board allowed the district’s contract with the teachers union to lapse by not voting to renew it.

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