FAIR News: Gender Pronouns in Middle School
Newsletter
FAIR Stands Up for Middle Schoolers Accused of Sexual Harassment for Pronoun Usage
On May 31st, FAIR sent a letter to Dr. Deborah Sixel, Principal of Kiel Middle School in Wisconsin, after a May 16th FAIR Transparency report noting that the school has “filed sexual harassment complaints against three middle schoolers for calling a classmate by a wrong pronoun.” The letter states that while FAIR “sympathize[s] with schools faced with the task of educating youth while the nation is publicly grappling with controversial and divisive issues…initiating federal complaints against students for not using ‘they/them’ pronouns violates those students’ First Amendment rights in numerous ways.”
The letter continues:
By initiating proceedings against students for not using the alternative pronouns of others, Kiel is not simply punishing them for protected speech; it is compelling them to affirm ideological beliefs in violation of their First Amendment rights. Pronoun declarations are not value-neutral statements such as name and age. They are politically loaded and premised on a specific set of ideological beliefs: that pronouns refer to gender and not biological sex, that one can be neither male nor female, and that gender is a matter of personal choice rather than a biological condition.
In the letter, FAIR also noted the recent bomb threats made against the school in response to the sexual harassment allegations, and made clear that FAIR “unequivocally condemns threats of violence,” and that FAIR’s “principles of peaceful change offer a model we hope would be followed by those who disagree with the actions Kiel has taken.”
FAIR Film Festival
Starting on June 5th, FAIR will host online screenings of the feature films I Am A Victor, What Killed Michael Brown?, Harvard Canceled its Best Black Professor, Mighty Ira, and All of Us.
On June 12th in New York City, FAIR will host an in-person screening of I Am A Victor and other assorted short films. From June 12th to June 16th, FAIR will host Q&A sessions with the filmmakers and special guests including author Shelby Steele, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Greg Lukianoff, and FAIR Advisory Board Members Daryl Davis, Wilfred Reilly, Angel Eduardo, and Alan Charles Kors.
FAIR Pro-Human Classroom Teacher Training
K-12 Educators, please join us on Wednesday, June 22nd, from 4-6 p.m. ET for a free, online workshop focused on how to create a culture of fairness, understanding, and humanity in the classroom. You'll learn to assess and improve classroom climate with the pro-human teaching rubric, support student viewpoint diversity, and help students build connections and understanding across cultures. The workshop will include methods practice and scenario planning with FAIR’s classroom support tools.
Only 11 spots remaining! Register now to secure yours!
New Alliances Livestream Sessions
The Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, Free Black Thought, and the Chinese American Alliance of Greater New York are hosting a retreat on June 7th and 8th, gathering a wide variety of thought leaders dedicated to protecting liberal values and opposing the imposition of ideology on our institutions.
You can register for free livestream sessions which will feature FAIR Advisors John Wood, Jr., Angel Eduardo, Kmele Foster, and Sheena Mason, along with Greg Thomas, Roland Fryer, Jonathan Haidt, and others discussing topics such as Uncomfortable Truths about Education and Public Safety, Conversations Across Differences, Building a New Alliance for a More Liberal Society, and more!
On a Positive Note: Daryl Davis & Eric Hölljes Event
On June 13th at the Carolina Theatre in Durham North Carolina, FAIR is hosting an event featuring FAIR Advisor, race relations expert, and blues/boogie woogie legend Daryl Davis, as well as Delta Rae singer, guitarist, and piano player Eric Hölljes. An honest conversation and musical performance between Daryl and Eric will explore the topics of our common humanity and the uniting power of music.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m. ET, with the event beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. A meet-and-greet reception will immediately follow.
Join FAIR Working Groups!
The Educators Alliance is growing! We are actively working to spread the pro-human message throughout schools and classrooms across our country through the expansion of the Educators Alliance with a FAIR Administrators Alliance, a FAIR Libraries Working Group, and a FAIR Independent School Strategy Working Group.
If you’re a K-12 school administrator and would like to join our Administrators Alliance, please email educators@fairforall.org.
If you work in a library, are concerned with recent trends in your field, and would like to join our FAIR Libraries Working Group to share resources and create a strategy to address the pressing issues facing libraries and their staff, please email libraries@fairforall.org for more information.
If you’re the parent of an independent school student and would like to join our Independent School Strategy Working Group to address the unique needs of parents and students in K-12 independent schools, please email educators@fairforall.org.
Stay tuned to the FAIR Educator’s Alliance webpage for more updates!
Have Something to Say? Write for Us
We want the FAIR Substack to be the go-to publication for diverse perspectives on culture and civil rights. Whether you’re a seasoned author or an amateur writer with a story that can contribute to our mission of promoting fairness, understanding, and humanity, we would love to receive your stories, opinions, investigations, reviews, interviews, and more!
Please send your piece to submissions@fairforall.org along with a short personal introduction and a brief, one-paragraph summary.
Submission guidelines:
Complete articles only (i.e., no “works in progress”).
No previously published submissions—this includes personal blogs as well as online or print publications.
We have no hard word count limits, but prefer submissions between 1,000 and 2,500 words.
We hope to hear from you!
FAIR Perspectives
The FAIR Perspectives podcast was off this week for Memorial Day, but be sure to check out last week’s episode, in which host Angel Eduardo speaks with FAIR Advisor, cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, and public intellectual Steven Pinker. Pinker is the author of several bestselling books, including The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Enlightenment Now, and most recently Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters.
In the episode, Angel and Steven discuss his books and the public response to them, the euphemism treadmill and whether we can ever escape it, the misunderstandings of terms like optimism and idealism, the tensions between human nature and the potential for progress, social media and the ways we can improve it, and how we can all be more rational.
Tune in on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Submit Questions for FAIR Perspectives Q&A Episodes!
Members of FAIR Community can now submit questions for an upcoming Q&A episode of FAIR Perspectives.
We want to give you, our fans and listeners, the opportunity to ask Melissa and Angel questions about FAIR, the pro-human movement, the podcast, and more.
Log into or create an account to submit your questions, and keep checking back for even more exclusive content coming soon!
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
FAIR Pro-Human and Perspectives Tour
On June 11th in Denver, please join FAIR National, FAIR Colorado, and local chapters to celebrate the kick-off of the FAIR Pro-Human and Perspectives Tour and to discuss the FAIR principles in the context of current issues of the day. This event will be an opportunity to connect with FAIR Board of Advisors members Daryl Davis and Erec Smith, FAIR’s founder and president Bion Bartning, and FAIR-minded friends from around the state.
FAIR Twin Cities Quarterly Meeting
FAIR Diversity Trainings
FAIR Diversity Conversation Series
For all FAIR Members and volunteers. These events are typically held on the first Monday of each month from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET.
Registration is now open for the following events:
June 13th
NO SESSION IN JULY
August 1st
Meet FAIR Diversity: What Is Pro-Human? Meetings
For all FAIR Members and volunteers. These events are typically held on the last Monday of each month from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET.
Registration is now open for the following events:
June 27th
July 25th
August 29th
FAIR Chapter Events
Chapter Leader Meetings
Chapter Events
June 7th:
Ontario Open House
7:30 p.m. ET
June 8th:
Toronto Open House
7:30 p.m. ET
June 9th:
Ottawa (613) Open House
8 p.m. ET
June 14th:
Ontario Chapter Meeting
7:30 p.m. ET
FAIR Educator Alliance ‘Happy Hour’
Teachers often feel isolated and alone in their schools, but FAIR is here for you! The FAIR Educators Alliance brings together educators from all levels to share experiences and concerns and work on developing resources that can support teachers, community members, and FAIR chapters.
We have an informal “happy hour” every Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m. ET, and hold more formal monthly meetings that will address issues based on your interests and needs.
We welcome all teachers and hope you will get connected.
For more information, contact educators@fairforall.org or, for Canadian educators, contact educators-canada@fairforall.org.
Join the FAIR Community
Become a FAIR volunteer or join a FAIR chapter:
Join a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission, or watch a previously recorded session in the Members section of www.fairforall.org.
Sign the FAIR Pledge for a common culture of fairness, understanding and humanity.
Join the FAIR community to connect and share information with other members.
Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.
What a beautiful letter. It’s unbelievable that in our country, in our lifetime, a school district would go after three middle school students in such an egregious manner. It’s heartbreaking.
Thank you for all you are doing 🙏