For more information, contact: Pat Garrett | WILL Communications Director [email protected] Ameillia Wedward | WILL Communications Associate [email protected] | (414) 303-9884 ICYMI: WILL Responds to Inaccurate Reporting from Wisconsin Watch The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is responding to inaccurate articles from Wisconsin Watch, a news outlet that is mischaracterizing statements made by Deputy Counsel, Luke Berg. WILL penned an op-ed in The Wisconsin Daily Star after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel refused to publish it. Read excerpts of WILL’s response below, or in its entirety here. As readers may be aware, in the spring of 2022 my colleagues and I at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) represented three eighth-grade boys who were accused by the Kiel Area School District of “sexual harassment” under Title IX for “mispronouning.” As we pointed out, “mispronouning” does not violate Title IX and is not “sexual harassment” under any reasonable definition of that term, and punishing students for their speech violates the First Amendment. The district had also violated Title IX’s clear procedural requirements. We urged the district to drop its misguided investigation, and it ultimately did. Last summer, after this was all over, Mario Koran at Wisconsin Watch published an article suggesting that we had misrepresented the situation. Though untrue, we ignored it at the time. Koran, however, continues to accuse us of painting an “incomplete narrative,” most recently in a piece published on Jan. 24. He claims that this was really about bullying and we “withheld” that. His accusation is flatly contradicted by both the District’s charging document and our letter. Here’s what they actually say… Continue reading here. Further Background: Last spring, three eighth-grade students in the Kiel Area School District were notified of a Title IX complaint and investigation for sexual harassment for using a biologically correct pronoun when referring to a classmate, instead of the student’s preferred pronoun of “they/them.” The District’s position appeared to be that once a student informs others of alternate, preferred pronouns, any subsequent “mispronouning” automatically constitutes punishable sexual harassment under Title IX. Sexual harassment, as defined in both Title IX and the Kiel Area School District’s policy, typically covers things like rape, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking, inappropriate touching, and quid pro quo sexual favors. None of that—or anything even close to it—was alleged in the complaint. Furthermore, the District failed to follow Title IX procedures and its own process in dealing with the minor students and their families. WILL attorneys issued a letter to administrators at the Kiel Area School District on May 12, 2022, urging the District to drop a Title IX complaint and investigation against three eighth-grade students who were accused. WILL’s letter explained that the mere use of biologically correct pronouns not only did not constitute sexual harassment under Title IX or the District’s own policy, but it is speech protected by the First Amendment. After WILL issued a follow-up letter on June 2, 2022, the Kiel Area School District “closed” the Title IX complaint and investigation against the minor students hours later. ‌ ‌ ‌ Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty | 330 East Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 725, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!