MIDDLEBORO — Attorneys for Liam Morrison, the Nichols Middle School student who was prevented by school officials this spring from wearing a shirt that stated “There Are Only Two Genders,’’ filed an appeal Friday, Aug. 4 of the most recent decision that upheld the prohibition. 

The case, which has drawn national attention, now goes before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, which includes Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island. Both sides allowed a temporary decision in favor of the schools to become permanent so the case could go on appeal. 

The issue stems from an incident March 21 at the middle school when Liam, a rising eighth grader, was told to remove a shirt stating “There Are Only Two Genders.’’ When he refused to do so, he was taken home by his father.

He subsequently wore a shirt stating “There Are Censored Genders’’ but was also asked to remove that item. 

On May 17, Liam and his father and stepmother, Chris Morrison, and Susan Morrison, filed suit, saying the decision violates his First Amendment rights. 

The suit was filed by attorneys representing the Alliance Defending Freedom and Massachusetts Family Institute. The suit specifically names the town, the School Committee, Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Lyons and Acting Middle School Principal Heather Tucker. 

 School officials have stated that the message on the shirt was threatening to some students and that the school handbook specifically prevents clothing that “target[s] groups based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, religious affiliation or any other classification,’’ which they argue his shirt does.

Liam’s supporters said that preventing him from wearing the shirt violates his right to expression. 

“This isn’t about a T-shirt; this is about a public school telling a middle-schooler that he isn’t allowed to express a view that differs from the school’s orthodoxy,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Logan Spena in a statement Friday, Aug. 4. “Public school officials can’t force Liam to remove a shirt that states his position when the school lets every other student wear clothing that speaks on the same issue.’’

The incident has drawn calls from at least two residents for the resignation of Lyons and School Committee Chair Rich Young. 

In calling for the two to step down, former School Committee member Teresa Farley said the lawsuit “could have been avoided,’’ Farley said, if Lyons had “effectively brought together students who were either offended or hurt by a shirt worn by another student.’’ Instead, Farley said, “your response has been to stand your ground and refuse to have the conversation.’’

Lyons has not directly commented on the T-shirt or the lawsuit despite several requests for a statement. But she did say at the April 27 School Committee meeting that “the dividing line for me as this district’s leader is when all students are not protected, when all students are not accepted for who they are and are told, either directly or indirectly, that they don’t belong here in Middleboro.’’