A student at a Massachusetts middle school has filed a lawsuit against his school district and principal after he was sent home from class for wearing a T-shirt affirming two genders: male and female.
Liam Morrison, who is represented by attorneys from the conservative legal group the Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday alleging that Middleborough Public Schools and Nichols Middle School had violated his right to freedom of speech when his school principal Heather Tucker sent him home from school for refusing to remove his T-shirt reading: “There are only two genders.”
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“Viewpoint-based restrictions, whether in a public or nonpublic forum, are unconstitutional,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants’ censorship of Liam’s shirts while permitting shirts and other apparel with different messages on related topics is viewpoint discrimination, which is unconstitutional in any type of forum.”
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Morrison said that Tucker, the school’s principal, told him that he had to take the shirt off because it was “making some students feel unsafe” and that people “didn’t like it.”
“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” the seventh grader said. “By that logic, every time someone has a disagreement, they would also be sent home.”
Morrison said that he wore the shirt because he wanted to share his opinion. A month after he was initially sent home, he wore a similar shirt that said, “There are censored genders,” but was again asked to remove it by the principal. The lawsuit says Morrison changed his shirt this time to avoid missing another school day.
Tyson Langhofer, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Washington Examiner that after Morrison was sent home, his parents initially asked the school superintendent if their son could wear his shirt to school. After the request was denied, an attorney letter made a similar request, which was similarly turned down.
“[The Morrisons] did everything they could to avoid having to file a lawsuit,” Langofer said. “All they really want to do is be able to express their viewpoint, just like the school expresses its viewpoint and like other students do as well.”
Langhofer noted that the school district commemorates Pride Month in June and has other politically charged and controversial posters and paraphernalia throughout the school. Morrison, the attorney said, is entitled to the same speech rights.
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“Students don’t forfeit their free speech when they walk into the school building, and the Supreme Court has been pretty clear about that,” Langhofer said. “They encourage students to wear their pride to express their positions, as long as they agree with the school’s positions. If they don’t, then they made clear that they’re going to censor it. [It’s] pretty clear that this Supreme Court has held that schools can’t censor speech just because other people disagree with it. That’s really the essence of the First Amendment.”
Middleborough Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.
