Latest news with #genderDebate
Washington Post
27-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Supreme Court declines case about T-shirt declaring ‘only two genders'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take the case of a Massachusetts middle school student who said his free speech rights were violated when school administrators forbid him to wear a T-shirt that read, 'There Are Only Two Genders.' As is typical in such decisions, the justices in the majority did not explain their reasoning. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote a lengthy dissent, joined by his fellow conservative Clarence Thomas, saying the case was a terrible precedent for students' First Amendment rights.
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from seventh grader who wore ‘two genders' shirt to school
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from a Massachusetts middle school student who was forced to remove a T-shirt that claimed 'there are only two genders.' Two conservative justices – Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – dissented from the decision to not hear the case. So long as the appeals court's decision is on the books, Alito wrote, 'thousands of students will attend school without the full panoply of First Amendment rights. That alone is worth this court's attention.' Liam Morrison wore the shirt to Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in 2023 to 'share his view that gender and sex are identical.' School administrators asked him to remove it and, when he declined, sent him home for the day. Weeks later, he wore the same shirt but covered the words 'only two' with a piece of tape on which he wrote 'censored.' Morrison and his family sued the district in federal court, asserting a violation of his First Amendment rights. The district court ruled against him and the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. In a landmark 1969 decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court affirmed students' First Amendment rights at school, but the court qualified those rights, allowing school administrators to regulate the speech if it 'materially disrupts' instruction at the school. The Vietnam-era case permitted a group of students to wear black armbands in protest of the war. The appeals court held that schools can regulate a student's speech under Tinker if it 'assertedly demeans characteristics of personal identity' of other students if the message is 'reasonably forecasted' to poison the 'educational atmosphere.' Morrison, who is represented by the religious legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that decision 'sidelined' Tinker and 'gave near-total deference to the school's determination of what speech demeans protected characteristics and substantially disrupts its operations.' In their written response to the Supreme Court, school officials noted they are aware of transgender and gender-nonconforming students 'who had experienced serious mental health struggles, including suicidal ideation, related to their treatment by other students based on their gender identities' and that those struggles could impact the students' ability to learn.
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from seventh grader who wore ‘two genders' shirt to school
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from a Massachusetts middle school student who was forced to remove a T-shirt that claimed 'there are only two genders.' Two conservative justices – Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – dissented from the decision to not hear the case. So long as the appeals court's decision is on the books, Alito wrote, 'thousands of students will attend school without the full panoply of First Amendment rights. That alone is worth this court's attention.' Liam Morrison wore the shirt to Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in 2023 to 'share his view that gender and sex are identical.' School administrators asked him to remove it and, when he declined, sent him home for the day. Weeks later, he wore the same shirt but covered the words 'only two' with a piece of tape on which he wrote 'censored.' Morrison and his family sued the district in federal court, asserting a violation of his First Amendment rights. The district court ruled against him and the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. In a landmark 1969 decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court affirmed students' First Amendment rights at school, but the court qualified those rights, allowing school administrators to regulate the speech if it 'materially disrupts' instruction at the school. The Vietnam-era case permitted a group of students to wear black armbands in protest of the war. The appeals court held that schools can regulate a student's speech under Tinker if it 'assertedly demeans characteristics of personal identity' of other students if the message is 'reasonably forecasted' to poison the 'educational atmosphere.' Morrison, who is represented by the religious legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that decision 'sidelined' Tinker and 'gave near-total deference to the school's determination of what speech demeans protected characteristics and substantially disrupts its operations.' In their written response to the Supreme Court, school officials noted they are aware of transgender and gender-nonconforming students 'who had experienced serious mental health struggles, including suicidal ideation, related to their treatment by other students based on their gender identities' and that those struggles could impact the students' ability to learn.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Supreme Court rejects appeal of Massachusetts student who wanted to wear 'only two genders' T-shirt
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a Massachusetts student who was barred from wearing a T-shirt to school proclaiming there are only two genders. The justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that said it would not second-guess the decision of educators in Middleborough, Massachusetts, to not allow the T-shirt to be worn in a school environment because of a negative impact on transgender and gender-nonconforming students. Educators at the John T. Nichols Middle School barred the student from wearing the T-shirt and an altered version with the words 'two genders' covered up by tape with the word 'censored' written on it. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. The court should have heard the case, Alito wrote, noting that 'the school permitted and indeed encouraged student expression endorsing the view that there are many genders,' but censored an opposing view. 'This case presents an issue of great importance for our Nation's youth: whether public schools may suppress student speech either because it expresses a viewpoint that the school disfavors or because of vague concerns about the likely effect of the speech on the school atmosphere or on students who find the speech offensive,' Alito wrote. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was reasonable to predict that the T-shirt will 'poison the educational atmosphere' and disrupt the learning environment. The school district's decision was in line with a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 1969, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, that upheld the right of public school students to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War when it did not create a substantial disruption to education.
CNN
27-05-2025
- General
- CNN
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal from seventh grader who wore ‘two genders' shirt to school
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from a Massachusetts middle school student who was forced to remove a T-shirt that claimed 'there are only two genders.' Two conservative justices – Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – dissented from the decision to not hear the case. So long as the appeals court's decision is on the books, Alito wrote, 'thousands of students will attend school without the full panoply of First Amendment rights. That alone is worth this court's attention.' Liam Morrison wore the shirt to Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, in 2023 to 'share his view that gender and sex are identical.' School administrators asked him to remove it and, when he declined, sent him home for the day. Weeks later, he wore the same shirt but covered the words 'only two' with a piece of tape on which he wrote 'censored.' Morrison and his family sued the district in federal court, asserting a violation of his First Amendment rights. The district court ruled against him and the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision. In a landmark 1969 decision, Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court affirmed students' First Amendment rights at school, but the court qualified those rights, allowing school administrators to regulate the speech if it 'materially disrupts' instruction at the school. The Vietnam-era case permitted a group of students to wear black armbands in protest of the war. The appeals court held that schools can regulate a student's speech under Tinker if it 'assertedly demeans characteristics of personal identity' of other students if the message is 'reasonably forecasted' to poison the 'educational atmosphere.' Morrison, who is represented by the religious legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, argues that decision 'sidelined' Tinker and 'gave near-total deference to the school's determination of what speech demeans protected characteristics and substantially disrupts its operations.' In their written response to the Supreme Court, school officials noted they are aware of transgender and gender-nonconforming students 'who had experienced serious mental health struggles, including suicidal ideation, related to their treatment by other students based on their gender identities' and that those struggles could impact the students' ability to learn.
