Thursday 12 May 2022 10:41 PM School where teacher tricked girl into attending identity class 'says it was ... trends now

A mother who was left fuming after a teacher tricked her 12-year-old daughter into attending a trans identity class has claimed the school admitted it was held in secret on purpose.

Erin Lee said Wellington Middle School in Colorado was open about 'intentionally' not telling parents about her child being lectured on gender and identity.

She said the institution told her they could not let them in on the guest speaker event because they had 'to offer a safe space for students'.

Her daughter had been invited by her art teacher Jenna Riep for an after school arts class that actually turned out to be a Genders & Sexualities Alliance event.

She told how her daughter came home and revealed a speaker told them they may be transgender if they were not comfortable in their bodies.

The horrified mother claimed they also asked kids who they were sexually attracted to and informed they could be queer while being shown a 'Genderbread person'.

The bizarre diagram has been used in some woke schools and workplaces to claim anatomical sex is 'male-ness' or 'female-ness' - but has been criticized by some academics.

Lee also alleged the youngsters were even asked to keep details of the meeting a secret and warned their parents were not safe.

The lesson, which district officials have since defended, spurred the concerned mother to pull the child out of the public school, and enroll her into an $8,000-a-year private school.

Meanwhile authorities were said to be seeking an LGBT coordinator to oversee all grades on a salary of up to $95,000-a-year.

Lee told DailyMail.com school bosses 'seemed empathetic to our situation but confirmed that the meeting intentionally happened in secret, with parental knowledge, because the school has to offer a safe space for students'.

She told how that the incident began after her daughter sent her a text message asking to go to an after-school art club, saying art teacher Riep had invited her.

She and her husband, Jonathan, then gave their permission for the child to attend - however, upon picking up the schoolgirl from the supposed art club, the pair quickly realized something was wrong.

She continued: 'We were completely caught off guard and ill-equipped to help our daughter make sense of what had happened to her.

'We feel so fortunate that she broke the rule and told us what happened.

'We fear how far her teacher, this external influencer and her peers also influenced by these adults would push her down the path of adopting the transgender label.

'Our first action was to immediately contact the woman who had given her personal information to our child.

'Her response was delusional and seemed to double-down on everything she had done and her need to target younger and younger children.'

The lesson was led by LGBTQ activist Kimberly Chambers, emails obtained by the Parents Defending Education advocacy group show. Chambers - the head of LGBTQ advocacy group SPLASH Youth of Northern Colorado - spoke as a school board-approved guest.

'She explained to my daughter that if she is not 100% comfortable in her female body, then she's transgender,' Lee explained, revealing that the outside speaker then told the middle-school-aged children that they were not safe around their parents.  

'She then told the kids that parents aren't safe, and that it's OK to lie to them about where they are in order to attend this meeting,' the mom, who has since enrolled her daughter in a private Christian school but still has a son at the public school, told Fox News.

Lee said the speaker - who delivered the lesson to the group on May 4 of last year - then gave the students her personal contact information and encouraged them to contact her on social media platforms such as Discord and What'sApp.

'She doubled down that parents aren't safe [and] that heterosexuality and monogamy are not normal,' Lee further revealed.

After confronting school staffers and guest speaker Chambers about the lesson, The Poudre School District confirmed the existence of the club, and asserted that conversations in its GSA groups 'may be confidential' given the' sensitive' nature of the meetings' discussions.

'In PSD, we promise to create and uphold equitable, inclusive, and rigorous educational opportunities, outcomes, and experiences for all students,' the district said in a statement to DailyMail.com. 

'As a district, we are committed to making our schools safe spaces in which all students can learn.

'Genders and Sexualities Alliances, or GSAs, were established as safe spaces for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, allies, and any individual to come together with the goals of ensuring inclusivity, safety, and support. 

'Discussions in GSAs may be confidential given that they can sometimes be sensitive in nature (i.e. a student may be 'out' with specific friends but not with the community at large),' it went on, adding that the GSA was 'school-sponsored' and approved by the district.  

The district declined to comment on the allegations made by Lee 'to protect the privacy of the student and their family.'

District brass further asserted that they had addressed the issue with Lee 'on multiple occasions over the past year,' and that her daughter is no longer enrolled in the district.

Lee said the school also confirmed the meeting is always held in secret. 

Email correspondence obtained by Parents Defending Education between Chambers and art teacher Riep show the LGBTQ advocate expressing concerns over the mother's complaints concerning the club.      

The messages, sent on May 6 and May 7 following Lee's complaints to the school and district, show Chambers asking school staff to remind the mom that 'the room is a safe space and that she should not share the names of her friends in attendance.'

She also told a seemingly worried Riep that emails and phone conversations she had had with Lee should be recorded and thought of as 'evidence.'

'Hello! This is private and I will be responding with a bcc for all of you, but it's important for you to know the response messaging that I send out,' Chamber wrote in one email sent to Riep and Katie Delahunt, a guidance counselor at Wellington Middle.    

'You can forward my response to admin at [Wellington Middle School], they probably will receive similar messages from this parent. 

'Tread lightly because this parent has HUGE potential to coming in to understanding or rejecting their child. 

'I'll respond with what we know to work so far- but it's always a gamble and a kids' access comes in to view,' Chambers went on.

'If you know which parent this is, can you politely remind their student that the room is a safe space and that she should not share the names of her friends in attendance?'

She then wrote, 'I'll reply to the email with you all bcc'd in the next hour or so. Any conversation with this parent should have the impression in our minds as 'evidence', verbiage is everything. Thanks!'

The next morning, Riep responded: 'Hey Kimberly, Sorry I am just responding, this has been a lot to process. The family has reached out the school a couple times this week, we are trying to get to a good place with them. 

'I really appreciate you taking the time to write thoughtful response. Thank you so much for your support and time, I'd love to get some advice sometime this summer on how I can best support students if something like this happens again. 

Chambers responded shortly thereafter, assuring the art teacher not to worry over Lee's complaints to the school and district, citing that they had 'strong ally' in Kristen Draper, a board member for the Poudre School District who also volunteers with SPLASH.  

Chambers also cited the Equal Access Act - a guidance that says federally funded schools cannot deny students the right to conduct meetings over religious, political, or philosophical content - as a reason that 'parents don't have to approve which clubs and activities their children participate in.'

'As needed,' Chambers wrote, 'You have a strong ally in our Board of Education, who can help your admin with responses and base them on the Equal Access Act where parents don't have to approve which clubs and activities their children participate in (which will probably be the next attempt by this parent).