Latest news with #schoolPolicy
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Outrage as teen who was banned from school over 'only two genders' shirt LOSES latest appeal
A teen's freedom of speech case has made it all the way up to the Supreme Court after he was sent home from school over two years ago for wearing a shirt that said, 'There are only two genders.' The Supreme Court declined to hear Liam Morrison's appeal, upholding a district court's decision siding with Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, a suburb outside of Boston. The First Circuit Court ruled that the school had the right to prohibit students' viewpoints if they were harmful, citing that the message was offensive to transgender students. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, with Alito writing that the case, 'presents an issue of great importance for our Nation's youth.' The Alliance Defending Freedom and the Massachusetts Family Institute are defending Liam and his parents in the case. 'We're disappointed the Supreme Court chose not to hear this critical free speech case,' ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of U.S. Litigation David Cortman said in a statement after the ruling. 'Students don't lose their free speech rights the moment they walk into a school building. Schools can't suppress students' views they disagree with,' Cortman continued. 'Here, the school actively promotes its view about gender through posters and "Pride" events, and it encourages students to wear clothing with messages on the same topic—so long as that clothing expresses the school's preferred views on the subject.' The case cites a landmark ruling in 1969, Tinker v. Des Moines, which set precedent that students don't shed their right to free speech at school unless it causes 'substantial disruption.' The controversial saga originated over two years ago, when Liam, who was in seventh grade at the time, was asked to remove the divisive shirt. When he refused, his father, Christopher Morrison, was called to pick him up. Liam then returned to school with a piece of tape over the words 'only two' and wrote 'censored,' instead. Liam has since stood by his decision to wear the shirt, accusing his middle school of stripping him of his right to freedom of speech. 'What did my shirt say? Five simple words: "There are only two genders,"' Liam said at a school board meeting shortly after. 'Nothing harmful. Nothing threatening. Just a statement I believe to be a fact.' The family then filed the suit, citing the town of Middleborough, the previous acting school principal Heather Tucker, the Middleborough School Committee, and Middleborough Public Schools superintendent Carolyn J. Lyons. In June, the district court sided with the school, agreeing that educators didn't violate Liam's First Amendment rights. However, last October, Liam's family appealed his case to the Supreme Court in hopes of a different outcome. 'This case isn't about T-shirts; it's about a public school telling a middle-schooler that he isn't allowed to express a view that differs from their own,' Cortman said at the time. Liam wrote an op-ed featured in Fox News in February titled, 'My middle school silenced my free speech T-shirts about "two genders." I'm fighting back.' In his essay, Liam said that his parents taught him to challenge his thinking and come to his own conclusions without outside influences. 'It's natural for our family to have those conversations where we share our different thoughts and views. Shouldn't that be natural and encouraged at school, too?' he wrote. Deborah Ecker, the lawyer representing the school, previously argued that educators were within their rights to ask Liam not to wear the shirt. '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.' 'They reasonably could forecast that the message, if he was allowed to wear it in the school and in a classroom, would reasonably cause a disruption to the school work and invade the rights of other students.' School officials also argued that the student handbook prohibits clothing implying hate speech based on 'race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation or any other classification.' The school's superintendent defended the decision, noting that some students 'have attempted to commit suicide or have had suicidal ideations in the past few years, including members of the LGBTQ+ community,' Reuters reported. The superintendent added that some of the students' struggles were related to the mistreatment they received because of their gender identity. Liam's case has made national headlines since he was sent home over two years ago. The political climate has changed since then, with President Trump signing an executive order on his first day in office titled, 'Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.' The order redefined the definition of sex as a biological classification of male or female. It also required Americans to have their biological sex listed on all federal documentation instead of their gender identity. The political climate has changed since Liam first wore his shirt to class. President Trump signed an executive order stating that the federal government would only recognize two genders The Massachusetts Family Institute, who is also representing Liam and his family in the case, praised the Executive Order. 'For individuals like Liam Morrison, which have been persecuted for saying exactly what this order proclaims, this development serves as validation,' the Massachusetts Family Institute said in January. However, many have called the order transphobic, with LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD calling it 'inaccurate,' 'inflammatory,' and 'highly unhinged.'
The Independent
27-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
US Supreme Court refuses student's case over ‘There are only two genders' T-shirt
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case regarding a Massachusetts public school's decision to prevent a student from wearing a T-shirt that read "There are only two genders." The student, referred to as L.M. in court documents, was 12 years old when the incident occurred in 2023. He argued that the school's ban violated his free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. He sought monetary damages from officials at John T. Nichols Middle School and the town of Middleborough. However, both a trial judge and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled against him, upholding the school's decision as a reasonable restriction. The Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case leaves the lower court's ruling in place. The 1st Circuit decision stated that "it was reasonable for Middleborough to forecast that a message displayed throughout the school day denying the existence of the gender identities of transgender and gender nonconforming students would have a serious negative impact on those students' ability to concentrate on their classroom work." The legal dispute implicates a 1969 Supreme Court precedent in a case known as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that lets public schools restrict student speech when it would "substantially disrupt" a school community. The issue of transgender rights is front and center in the U.S. culture wars. Since returning to office in January, Republican President Donald Trump has taken a hardline stance on transgender rights, targeting "gender ideology" and declaring that the U.S. government would recognise two sexes: male and female. The Supreme Court on May 6 permitted Trump's administration to implement his ban on transgender people in the military, allowing the armed forces to discharge the thousands of current transgender troops and reject new recruits while legal challenges play out. L.M., who was a seventh grade student at the time, wore the T-shirt reading "There are only two genders" to school in March 2023. His lawyers said in court papers he did so in order to "share his view that gender and sex are identical, and there are only two sexes - male and female." "L.M. hoped to start a meaningful conversation on gender ideology, a matter of public concern; protect other students against ideas that L.M. considers false and harmful; and show them compassionate people can believe that sex is binary," his lawyers wrote in a Supreme Court filing. A teacher reported the shirt to the school principal's office, noting that LGBT+ students were present at school that day and expressing concerns that the shirt could disrupt classes. The principal asked the boy if he would be willing to change his shirt and return to class, but he declined. The principal then called the boy's father, Chris Morrison, who opted to pick up his son from school rather than have him remove his shirt. Morrison, after complaining to school officials about the incident, was referred to the dress code in the school's student handbook. It states: "Clothing must not state, imply, or depict hate speech or imagery that target(s) groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation or any other classification." In May 2023, L.M. again wore the T-shirt to school, but covered the words "only two" with a piece of tape that read "censored," thus bearing the message: "There are (censored) genders." L.M. removed that shirt after being asked by school officials. During the proceedings, the school system's superintendent said that some students at John T. Nichols Middle School "have attempted suicide or have had suicidal ideations in the past few years, including members of the LGBTQ+ community," and that some of those students' struggles were "related to their treatment based on their gender identities by other students." The boy, who brought the lawsuit along with his father and stepmother, are represented in the lawsuit by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has represented clients in various high-profile cases before the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs sought a court order prohibiting school officials from barring his wearing of the T-shirt and declaring the disputed portions of the dress code unconstitutional. They also sought unspecified monetary damages. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, ruled in favor of the school officials. Her decision was upheld last year by the 1st Circuit, prompting the Supreme Court appeal. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to rule by the end of June in a major transgender rights case. During arguments in the case in December, the conservative justices signaled their willingness to uphold a Republican-backed ban in Tennessee on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Fox News
27-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
Supreme Court declines to review free speech case involving student who wore 'only two genders' shirt
The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a Massachusetts student who was banned from school for wearing a shirt criticizing the transgender movement on Tuesday. The student, Liam Morrison, brought the case through his father and stepmother, Christopher and Susan Morrison. The plaintiffs argue Nichols Middle School violated his free speech rights when it banned him from wearing two T-shirts to school with the words "There are only two genders" and "There are [censored] genders" on the front. Liam was sent home both times after he refused to change shirts. The school argued the shirts made his classmates feel unsafe, and a federal court agreed, saying the message was demeaning for transgender students. This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- General
- Bloomberg
Supreme Court Rejects Appeal Over Student's ‘Two Genders' Shirt
The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from a public middle school student who said his free speech rights were violated when his principal barred him from wearing a T-shirt saying 'there are only two genders.' Over the dissents of two conservative justices, the court left intact a federal appeals court decision that said the Massachusetts principal and school district were on solid ground in concluding the shirt carried a demeaning message that could disrupt the learning environment.
