A lot of support is developing for a teen who wore a T-shirt to school that said, “There are only two genders” and was punished for it.
A statement from ADF confirms, “Sixteen states and a number of advocacy organizations have united in support of a middle school student’s freedom of speech in friend-of-the-court briefs filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in L.M. v. Town of Middleborough.”
Liam Morrison, a student, first wore a shirt to school reading, “There are only two genders,” and then later “There are censored genders.”
Lawyers for Morrison recently filed their opening brief in their lawsuit over the school’s actions, and it requests a ruling that Nichols Middle School I Middleborough violated the First Amendment in forcing Morrison to change shirts.
Morrison’s lawyers also want the court to understand they are not happy with the idea of a dress code that discriminates against students based on their viewpoint.
“Students don’t forfeit their free speech when they walk into the school building. This case isn’t about a T-shirt; it’s about a public school telling a middle-schooler that he isn’t allowed to express a view that differs from their own,” ADF spokesman John Bursch said in his organization’s reported.
“Public school officials can’t force Liam to remove a shirt that states his position when the school lets other students wear clothing that speaks on the same issue but from a different viewpoint. As the numerous advocacy organizations that rallied in support of Liam affirm, the First Amendment applies to all Americans, and we urge the court to rule in favor of all speech, not just some.”
So far 16 states and a long list of advocacy organizations have offered support for the student, who soon will be before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The school’s principal, counselor and others yanked the student out of class and ordered him to remove his shirt or he would be banned from classes.
The lawsuit was filed in May on behalf of Morrison, who wore the first T-shirt to share his belief that there are only two sexes.
“Once school officials censored his original message, Morrison chose to wear an altered shirt that reads, ‘There are censored genders’ to protest the fact that only some messages about gender are allowed. As soon as Morrison arrived at school, his teacher instructed him to go to the principal’s office, where he was told that he could not wear that shirt at school either,” the ADF reported.
So far, South Carolina and 15 other states joined in submitting a brief in support of Morrison. The document charges, “students who agree with the school’s beliefs about gender identity are not burdened by a dress code that only permits speech in line with that belief. The dress code does not require adherents to gender ideology to alter their usual practice, because the dress code specifically conforms to their practice and requires others to do the same.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression noted, “If the district court’s ruling is allowed to stand, students in Middleborough will learn the wrong lesson: If your speech is unpopular, the government can silence you.”
So far, briefs support the student come from the Center for American Liberty, FIRE, Independent Women’s Law Center, Institute for Faith and Family, Life Legal Defense Foundation and Young America’s Foundation, Mountain States Legal Foundation and Manhattan Institute, Parents Defending Education and South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
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