Debra Rosenquist, a New York teacher, has been accused of "manipulating" and "forcing" a 5th-grade girl into changing her gender and leading to "suicidal thoughts." In a lawsuit filed by the parents, it was alleged that the manipulation was being carried out without the knowledge or consent of the victim's parents.
Rosenquist Addressed the Child with Male Name and Pronouns
As per the lawsuit, filed against Rosenquist, who works at the Terryville Road Elementary School in the Brookhaven-Comsewogue School District, superintendent, Jennifer J. Quinn, and the principal, Annemarie V. Sciove, the child was targeted by the teacher throughout 2021-22 academic year.
The New York Post reported that the teacher was accused of addressing the female student with male names and pronouns. "As a result, [the student] became confused as to her gender. Despite knowing about Rosenquist's conduct..., it took the District, [Superintendent] Quinn, and [Principal] Sciove months to inform [her parents] about it," the suit said.
"Rosenquist pursued her own agenda outside the curriculum, which included persuading her 5th-grade students to try 'being gay' or being another gender even when they were not. To further her agenda, Rosenquist read and provided her students graphic books about gender and sexuality which were not on the curriculum," the suit said.
Parents Claim Teacher Forcing the Child to Become a Transgender
The lawsuit further claimed that Rosenquist used a book titled "When Aidan Became a Brother," as part of her teaching. The book revolves around a child named Aidan whose mother admits she made a mistake misgendering her son, saying, "When you were born, we didn't know you were going to be our son. We made some mistakes, but you helped us fix them."
Speaking to Fox News, the 9-year-old's parents' attorney, Debra L. Wabnik said that even though they were supportive to her daughter's choice of gender, they were concerned that she was being manipulated by her teacher.
"[The parents] were incredibly concerned about the well-being of their 9-year-old daughter. They have and will always support [their child] but worried that [she] was being persuaded by Rosenquist to be transgender when she had not expressed any such inclination. Debra Rosenquist manipulated a pre-teen female into changing her gender identity when the child did not feel any inclination to do so," said Wabnik.
The shocking discovery was made after the child started showing suicidal tendencies. The lawsuit claimed that the 5th-grader was so "distressed by Rosenquist's referring to her as a male that she drew a picture of a girl and referenced suicide." The school informed the parents of the drawing which had "I wanna kill myself" and "I feel sad like a lot," written on it along with the drawing.
