A teacher got fired for attending a drag show. The queens rallied in her defense.

Two teachers in Texas were fired for attending a drag show earlier this month. Now the Houston venue they went to is hosting a benefit for them.

As local ABC affiliate KTRK reported, Kristi Maris and a colleague went to a drag show at the Houston location of Hamburger Mary’s—something Maris said she has wanted to do for a long time.

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Following their July 13 night out, Maris posted photos and videos of the show on Facebook. “This was a blast!!!” she wrote in the post’s caption.

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But soon after, she received a phone call from her employers at First Baptist Academy in Baytown, Texas, where Maris had taught physical education for 19 years. She and her coworker had been fired.

According to KTRK, the school’s senior pastor cited a line in First Baptist Academy’s operating policy manual: “I will act in a godly and moral fashion at work, on Facebook and in my community.”

Maris said that while she had agreed to the clause, she never considered that attending a drag show would constitute a violation.

“They’re entertainers,” she said. “I would’ve never thought in a million years that this would happen. Never. We were in disbelief. We still are. We were heartbroken. We had relationships with parents and the kids, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye to a lot of the kids.”

Maris said that she felt like she and her coworker “were treated like criminals” and that the school’s decision runs counter to her Christian beliefs.

“For almost 20 years, I’ve taught children to love each other. I’ve talked to them and told them, ‘You have to get along. God loves us all equally.’ And that’s the way we should be,” she said. “We should love everybody, and that’s what we’ve been teaching, but they’re expecting us not to do that.”

Despite what happened, Maris said she wouldn’t hesitate to see another drag show. “Oh yeah, I’ll do it again,” she told KTRK. “It was too much fun, and it was good music!”

And she has a great excuse to return to Hamburger Mary’s. The chain restaurant’s Houston location, which has been a target of far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ protests recently, has started a Go-Fund Me campaign with a goal of raising $20,000 for Maris and her coworker. It’s also hosting a benefit on August 3.

In a Wednesday Facebook post, the restaurant wrote that Maris and her colleague were teachers that not only their students but the whole world deserved.  

“Unfortunately, they are no longer employed due to attending our show, but that won’t stop us from showing our love and passion for the art form of drag!” the post continued, urging people to attend the benefit show to raise money for the teachers and their families, and “to also help raise awareness that drag queens and the LGBTQIA+ community are not bad people. We accept and love everyone!”

“It is unbelievable the support we are receiving,” Maris said of the benefit.