Legal Battle Over ‘Two Genders’ T-Shirt Worn by Massachusetts Boy
A Massachusetts middle-school student appeared in court on Thursday, challenging the actions of school officials who prohibited him from wearing a T-shirt stating “only two genders.”
Liam Morrison, an eighth-grader, was told last year that he could not wear a shirt to Nichols Middle School that read “There are only two genders.” Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Liam’s legal team argued the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Boston.
“His T-shirt did not target any individual,” David Cortman, ADF senior counsel and VP of U.S. Litigation, said in court. “It merely addressed the same subject matter the school had already raised, but a different point of view.”
The Middleborough school district annually celebrates Pride month, displaying Pride flags and promoting the concept of multiple genders. In response, Liam wore his T-shirt, which led to school officials giving him the choice to either remove the shirt or leave for the day. Liam opted to leave.
Subsequently, he wore another shirt declaring “There are censored genders,” and was again instructed to remove it.
“The situation should have been a teaching moment,” Cortman said. “This should have been a moment … that we teach the students how to debate on controversial topics of the day, and yet that did not happen.”
“They decided to censor him,” the lawyer went on. “But what the school cannot do, even though they can share their own views, is decide that only students who agree with those views can speak, but anyone who disagrees should be silenced. And that’s exactly what they did here.”
Speaking to reporters outside the federal courthouse, Liam explained that this issue is about more than just a T-shirt.
“This isn’t just about a shirt. It’s about free speech,” he said. “All students have a constitutional right to express their free speech without fear of being punished by school officials.”
Previously, a U.S. district judge ruled in favor of the Middleborough school officials. The principal mentioned complaints that the shirt’s message might cause some students to feel unsafe.
“Looking at what the school officials knew about their school, the age of the kids, the LGBTQ community in that school, and the real mental health concerns, their decision to have the plaintiff remove the T-shirt was reasonable,” Deborah Ecker, the lawyer representing the school district, told the appeals court on Thursday.
She added that the school reasonably anticipated that the T-shirt’s message could disrupt school activities and infringe on other students’ rights.
The federal appeals court judges are considering the case. Middleborough is a town of 25,000 people located approximately 30 miles south of Boston.
