(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Liam Morrison, a seventh grader from Middleborough, Massachusetts, sued Nichols Middle School in federal court. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) agreed to represent Liam after he was denied permission by the school to wear a t-shirt that read, “There are only two genders.”
After a hearing in District Court, the case filed by the 12-year-old against his school for violating his freedom of speech has hit a snag.
On Wednesday, May 31, Morrison’s attorneys asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston for a temporary injunction, also known as a restraining order, hoping that the school would be required to allow Morrison to express his views about gender until the court’s final decision.
The injunction was denied.
The administration and a school counselor instructed Morrison in March that he had to change out of his “There are only two genders” shirt before returning to class. He said no.
Morrison’s family and legal representation were informed by NMS that the school would continue to forbid Morrison from wearing the shirt. In reaction, the seventh grader donned a “There are censored genders” t-shirt to school and was almost immediately instructed to remove it.
Morrison said his school displays messages about transgender identities and other topics related to gender and sexuality, such as progress pride flags and banners.
His attorney, Logan Spena, stated that the school is banning Liam from communicating his views. The school encourages kids to voice opinions congruent with their ideological stance.
Regarding the charge that the school has rules about what the students can wear, Spena said those rules involve wardrobe, and his client isn’t demanding the right to wear whatever pleases. As with all students, he demands the freedom to express his view on this topic in a non-disruptive manner.
The school and town authorities in Middleborough are contending they have the right to prohibit any form of student expression they deem likely to be objectionable to other kids.
The fact that a school can punish a youngster for opposing censorship in modern America is “pretty remarkable,” Spena said, “regardless of what you think about the gender issue.”
The school believes the teeshirt amounts to bullying a protected class of people.
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