Middle school student charged with sexual harassment after 'misgendering' classmate

A middle school student from Wisconsin has said he fears that his future will be ruined if a Title IX violation that he received for sexual harassment for “misgendering” a classmate is not removed from his record.

Braden’s mother, Rosemary Rabidoux, first heard news of the unfolding nightmare when the school’s principal called to inform her that she would be receiving an email outlining allegations of sexual harassment lodged against her son.

"I immediately thought, ‘sexual harassment, that’s rape, that’s incest, that’s inappropriate touching, even grotesque language could go that far.’ And when I asked him what my son did, he said that he did not use the correct pronouns," she told Fox News Digital.

Braden, however, is not the only middle school student in Wisconsin facing sexual harassment charges after using incorrect pronouns when addressing a classmate; presently, two other students are being charged with similar offenses.

"I was anxious and scared and upset because I didn’t know what was going to happen," Braden said. "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." 

But through the anxiety, Rabidoux has said that the school refused to provide her with any details surrounding the allegations – effectively keeping her in the dark about a situation that could change her son’s life forever.

"I did not know exactly what had happened for three or four days," she said. "It took three or four days for them to send me the complaint to even find out what it was he had done wrong." 

The lawyer representing the students, deputy counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Luke Berg, has come out against the schools, calling the charges a “gross misapplication of Title IX sexual harassment charges,” Fox News reported.

"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." 

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

Berg, for his part, has said he is working to get the district to dismiss the charges and drop them from Braden’s record, ensuring that the school board makes “changes to ensure this doesn’t happen again to other students.”