Three middle school boys charged with sexual harassment for not using “preferred” gender pronouns of classmate

Three middle school boys charged with sexual harassment for not using “preferred” gender pronouns of classmate - The Lion

Three students at a Wisconsin middle school are being charged with sexual harassment for not using another student’s “preferred” gender pronouns. And the legal organization representing the accused suggests one school official may have been on “a fishing expedition to find evidence of sexual...

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Three students at a Wisconsin middle school are being charged with sexual harassment for not using another student’s “preferred” gender pronouns.
And the legal organization representing the accused suggests one school official may have been on “a fishing expedition to find evidence of sexual harassment” during interviews that failed to follow the school’s own policies.

In March, officials at Kiel Middle School first notified the parents of three eighth-grade boys that their sons were being investigated for sexual harassment.
According to the district, the boys failed to use a classmate’s requested pronouns of “they” and “them.” The school claims the conduct is sexual harassment under Title IX, which prohibits gender-based harassment in the form of name-calling.

Rose Rabidoux, the mother of one of the boys, told local media the use of pronouns was “confusing” to her son. She added that the classmate only recently announced the preferred pronouns, suggesting that other students were still adjusting.

“Sexual harassment – that’s rape, that’s incest, that’s inappropriate touching,” Rabidoux said. “What did my son do? He’s a little boy. He told me that he was being charged with sexual harassment for not using the right pronouns.”

Attorneys from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) are representing the Rabidoux family and the families of the other two students who were accused.
In a May 12 letter sent to the superintendent, the school counselor and the Title IX compliance officer, WILL accuses the district of misinterpreting Title IX, which makes no mention of “gender identity.” They also say none of the alleged behavior “comes remotely close to sexual harassment.”

“The complaint against these boys, and the district’s ongoing investigation, are wholly inappropriate and should be immediately dismissed,” the letter reads.
The letter also argues that the district violated Title IX investigation procedures and the school’s own policies. Based on the evidence provided, WILL says the district should “promptly end the investigation, dismiss the complaints and remove them from each of the boys’ records.”

In response to parents’ complaints, superintendent Brad Ebert released a statement that fails to address the specifics of the case. Instead, the letter notes that the Kiel Area School District “prohibits all forms of bullying and harassment in accordance with all laws, including Title IX, and will continue to support ALL students regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, sex (including transgender status, change of sex or gender identity), or physical, mental, emotional or learning disability (“Protected Classes”) in any of its student programs and activities; this is consistent with school board policy. We do not comment on any student matters.”
WILL has asked the district to provide key documents in the case by Friday. If the district fails to respond, the parents are expected to take legal action.

 

[IIDB Staff]

Once again a transgender thread is devolved into flames and insults.

NOTICE: It is not acceptable to deliberately misgender posters here, or goad by repeatedly misgending subjects of a post. This INCLUDES deliberately using “They Them” for a person who has stated that they use He/Him or She/Her.


Be kind. This is not complicated.

No insults or ad homs. No misgendering. No accusations of lying or criminal activity.

Read the TOU and follow it.

 

[repoman]

I wonder if these boys got their ideas from Matt Walsh, who is a bit of a prick, but is right on this issue.



1.4 million views. Trans people can live whatever emotional lives they want, but the ones who are sane (very many of them) do fully accept that their SEX is their birth sex. An MTF is a male and an FTM is a female.

 

[Metaphor]

I wonder if these boys got their ideas from Matt Walsh, who is a bit of a prick, but is right on this issue.



1.4 million views. Trans people can live whatever emotional lives they want, but the ones who are sane (very many of them) do fully accept that their SEX is their birth sex. An MTF is a male and an FTM is a female.

"A chicken has an assigned gender" is as close to perfect a distillation of gender ideology as can be made. And made, of course, by a gender ideologist.

 

[blastula]

I wonder if these boys got their ideas from Matt Walsh, who is a bit of a prick, but is right on this issue.



1.4 million views. Trans people can live whatever emotional lives they want, but the ones who are sane (very many of them) do fully accept that their SEX is their birth sex. An MTF is a male and an FTM is a female.

That's nice, but this is about pronouns.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Because:

1) it is a viable pronoun that covers several cases, including online when you don't even know the gender of users.
2) the use of the words 'they' and 'them' has shifted to include gender-free pronoun identification

Language has a tendency to change as such.

I very often use they/them in writing on this very forum when I am either unsure of gender or where gender is not specific to what I am writing about. I’ve done that for years and years.

Exactly. While is it most commonly used as third person plural it is the only valid term for third person singular of unknown gender. Words often have multiple uses!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I very often use they/them in writing on this very forum when I am either unsure of gender or where gender is not specific to what I am writing about. I’ve done that for years and years.

That does not answer my question. I often use 'they' to describe a person whose sex is unknown. "Do you know who was in this meeting room before? They've left their glasses behind".

But Jarhyn uses 'they' when he is referring to me specifically, and he has decided that he is allowed to substitute pronouns he knows I believe are correct for adult human males.

But it doesn't become invalid just because someone's gender is known.

 

[Metaphor]

I very often use they/them in writing on this very forum when I am either unsure of gender or where gender is not specific to what I am writing about. I’ve done that for years and years.

That does not answer my question. I often use 'they' to describe a person whose sex is unknown. "Do you know who was in this meeting room before? They've left their glasses behind".

But Jarhyn uses 'they' when he is referring to me specifically, and he has decided that he is allowed to substitute pronouns he knows I believe are correct for adult human males.

But it doesn't become invalid just because someone's gender is known.

So, we are back to this. You've decided calling people 'they' is "valid", even if someone has told you their pronouns and you are purposely ignoring that request.

Who said using 'they' was valid? Who decided? Why is calling a trans man 'they' against her wishes acceptable, but calling her 'she' is not acceptable? Why, indeed, is calling a non-trans person 'they' acceptable, when it's against their wishes?

Here is the problem: once you've decided people are entitled to pronouns of their choosing, you have no valid reason to ignore some requests (or demands) and not others. There are people who claim to be 'gender fluid', whose pronouns can change daily (and even intra-daily). Is that a reasonable request? If you say 'no', why don't you honour those pronouns?

If somebody's preferred pronoun is 'it', are people obligated to use that pronoun? Or 'lord' or 'bug' or 'fae'?

 

[laughing dog]

Using a gender-free pronoun is probably less offensive than an objectionable gendered pronoun.

 

[Bomb#20]

I very often use they/them in writing on this very forum when I am either unsure of gender or where gender is not specific to what I am writing about. I’ve done that for years and years.

Exactly. While is it most commonly used as third person plural it is the only valid term for third person singular of unknown gender. Words often have multiple uses!

It's hardly the only valid term. There's "he or she". There's "the above person". And there are hundreds of foreign languages that have singular pronouns unmarked for gender. Borrowing a word from a foreign language is the customary way English has always dealt with concepts it didn't have words for. "They" itself is a foreign borrowing. There's no reason we should have to impose on ourselves the unclarity, ambiguity, and awkwardness that come from force-fitting plural pronouns and their associated plural verbs onto singular nouns.

 

[Metaphor]

Using a gender-free pronoun is probably less offensive than an objectionable gendered pronoun.

Why? And, in any case, why is it okay to be 'less offensive' whilst still ignoring somebody's 'preferred pronouns'?

Also, 'they/them' is specifically used by many people who consider themselves to be 'non-binary', which is a gender identity. It's not "gender neutral" in that sense.

 

[ZiprHead]

Amazing. Metaphor arguing against himself.

 

[Metaphor]

Amazing. Metaphor arguing against himself.

I'm not. I'm asking people how they can hold and justify self-contradicting views.

 

[ZiprHead]

Amazing. Metaphor arguing against himself.

I'm not. I'm asking people how they can hold and justify self-contradicting views.

People like you?

 

[Metaphor]

Amazing. Metaphor arguing against himself.

I'm not. I'm asking people how they can hold and justify self-contradicting views.

People like you?

What is self-contradicting in my views? Please be specific.

 

[laughing dog]

“They” does not specify a gender, so it is gender neutral.

I don’t think it takes much thought to distinguish the difference between misidentifying a gender and not identifying a gender at all in terms of giving offense.

Finally, the question of “who decided” presumes some nonexistent overriding speech authority which reveals a lack of knowledge on how language develops.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I very often use they/them in writing on this very forum when I am either unsure of gender or where gender is not specific to what I am writing about. I’ve done that for years and years.

Exactly. While is it most commonly used as third person plural it is the only valid term for third person singular of unknown gender. Words often have multiple uses!

It's hardly the only valid term. There's "he or she". There's "the above person". And there are hundreds of foreign languages that have singular pronouns unmarked for gender. Borrowing a word from a foreign language is the customary way English has always dealt with concepts it didn't have words for. "They" itself is a foreign borrowing. There's no reason we should have to impose on ourselves the unclarity, ambiguity, and awkwardness that come from force-fitting plural pronouns and their associated plural verbs onto singular nouns.

Your examples aren't single words.

And "they" is both singular and plural.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

“They” does not specify a gender, so it is gender neutral.

I don’t think it takes much thought to distinguish the difference between misidentifying a gender and not identifying a gender at all in terms of giving offense.

Exactly. The word is completely appropriate when faced with an unknown gender, how can it become offensive once someone's gender is known? All I can see is that it's seen as a sign of trans acceptance and they regard anything that could be interpreted as accepting anything other than cis-hetero as offensive.

 

[Bomb#20]

Exactly. While is it most commonly used as third person plural it is the only valid term for third person singular of unknown gender. Words often have multiple uses!

It's hardly the only valid term. There's "he or she". There's "the above person". And there are hundreds of foreign languages that have singular pronouns unmarked for gender. Borrowing a word from a foreign language is the customary way English has always dealt with concepts it didn't have words for. "They" itself is a foreign borrowing. There's no reason we should have to impose on ourselves the unclarity, ambiguity, and awkwardness that come from force-fitting plural pronouns and their associated plural verbs onto singular nouns.

Your examples aren't single words.

(a) Why is that an objection?
(b) You can always turn them into single words -- that's what God made acronyms for.
(c) The foreign options are single words.

And "they" is both singular and plural.

My elementary school English teachers are rolling over in their graves. According to them, "they" is singular. You said it's also plural. Why did you say that? Were you just repeating a popular meme or do you have empirical linguistic evidence that it's plural? How can we tell whether you or my English teachers were right?

Well, here's some empirical linguistic evidence:

Once again a transgender thread is devolved into flames and insults.

NOTICE: It is not acceptable to deliberately misgender posters here, or goad by repeatedly misgending subjects of a post. This INCLUDES deliberately using “They Them” for a person who has stated that they use He/Him or She/Her.


Be kind. This is not complicated.

No insults or ad homs. No misgendering. No accusations of lying or criminal activity.

Read the TOU and follow it.

Linguistics is a subfield of zoology and empirical linguistic evidence is observation of animal behavior in the wild -- an English-speaker automatically applying grammar rules he or she internalized while learning to speak fluently, just from listening to other English-speakers. In English, subjects and verbs agree in number. We say "a transgender thread is devolved", not "a transgender thread are devolved". We say "a person who has stated", not "a person who have stated".

If "they" were really a singular pronoun then the poster would have written "they uses", not "they use".

 

[Bomb#20]

“They” does not specify a gender, so it is gender neutral.

I don’t think it takes much thought to distinguish the difference between misidentifying a gender and not identifying a gender at all in terms of giving offense.

Exactly. The word is completely appropriate when faced with an unknown gender, how can it become offensive once someone's gender is known? All I can see is that it's seen as a sign of trans acceptance and they regard anything that could be interpreted as accepting anything other than cis-hetero as offensive.

Are you serious?

It becomes offensive because the so-called "progressives" demand that those lower on the progressive stack conform their speech to a newly made-up rule of courtesy when speaking of people higher up on the progressive stack. So when those progressives choose not to follow their own newly made-up rule of courtesy when speaking about those lower down on the progressive stack, they are blatantly advertising that their new rule, just like most old rules of "court-esy", is not about being nice but about who outranks whom. When one of the self-appointed elite rubs it in your face that you're a commoner and you're required to kowtow to the whims of your betters, that's bloody offensive.

 

[Metaphor]

“They” does not specify a gender, so it is gender neutral.

Yet, as I've already stated, 'they' is the pronoun of choice for those who identify their gender as 'non binary'.