Middle schooler, 13, is terrified he'll be shunned by colleges after he was accused of sexual harassment for using wrong pronoun when talking to non-binary classmate

A teenager fears he'll be shunned by colleges after his school accused him of sexual harassment for using the wrong pronoun when talking to a non-binary classmate.

Braden Rabidoux, from Kiel in Wisconsin, spoke out after he was hit with a Title IX complaint for referring to the student as 'she' rather than 'they' or 'them.'

Speaking to Fox News Wednesday, he said: 'I was anxious and scared and upset because I didn’t know what was going to happen.  'But mostly anxious for my present self and my future self because a charge like that on my record could shatter my chances at getting into a college when I grow up.'

Braden and two of his classmates, who have not been named, were hit with the complaint earlier this month. They were said to have been berated by the non-binary classmate who screamed abuse at the three students for using female pronouns instead of gender-neutral ones.

Using the wrong pronoun for a transgender or non-binary person is known as misgendering.

Braden insisted it was his First-Amendment right to refer to his classmate using whatever pronouns he wished to.  

His family have now instructed lawyers to fight the charge. Luke Berg, from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said the allegations are 'a gross misapplication of Title IX sexual harassment charges.'

He added: 'Sexual harassment covers really egregious stuff, not simply using the so-called wrong pronoun.

'The school’s theory seems to be that any use of a wrong pronoun is automatically punishable speech under Title XI, and if that is truly their position, that is a truly egregious First Amendment violation.'

Meanwhile, Braden's mother Rosemary Rabidoux, who joined him for the Fox News interview, blasted plans by a woke Virginia school district to suspend students for 'malicious misgendering.'

Rosemary said: 'This is middle school. These guys are kids, they’re learning how to interact with each other, and they’ve been taught all their life to see a girl and use pronouns "she" and "her." They don’t understand using plural pronouns for one student," she said.

'Schools should be focused on education, on math and science and social studies, and not … pronouns.'

Last week, Rosemary told of her horror at being contacted by Braden's school with the sexual harassment complaint. She said: 'I immediately went into shock! I'm thinking, sexual harassment? That's rape, that's inappropriate touching, that's incest. What has my son done?

'(The investigating principal) said he's being allegedly charged with sexual harassment for not using proper pronouns. I thought it wasn't real! I thought this has got to be a gag, a joke — one has nothing to do with the other.

Asked whether Rabidoux and her son were anti LGBTQ, Rosemary quickly rose the defense of her family.  'Not at all. Not at all! My children have been raised to love everybody equally,' she said.

Kiel School District has refused to comment on the incident, other than to say that it does not tolerate bullying.

A spokesperson added that district officials 'continue to support ALL students regardless of sex (including transgender status, change of sex or gender identity)'.

The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty's full letter to the school blasting its action against the boys' has also been published.

It says: 'The mere use of biologically correct pronouns not only does not constitute sexual harassment under Title IX or the District's own policy, it is also speech protected by the First Amendment,' a May 12 letter to the school superintendent, counselor, and principal reads.

'The District has also violated Title IX procedures and its own policy in its handling of the complaint. The District should promptly end the investigation, dismiss the complaints, and remove them from each of the boys' records,' the letter added.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10829443/Boy-13-misgendered-non-binary-classmate-says-hes-scared-wont-college.html

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