Appeals court sides with school in ‘two genders’ shirt case

MIDDLEBORO – A ruling by the United States First District Court of Appeals on Sunday, June 9, upheld an earlier district court decision that Middleboro Public Schools did not violate a student’s rights when asking him to remove a shirt stating “there are only two genders.”

The original lawsuit, Morrison v. Town of Middleboro, was filed in United States District Court on behalf of student Liam Morrison, then 12, who was told to remove the shirt by school officials last March. He was subsequently told to remove a different shirt that read “there are censored genders’’ in May.

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

Following a District Court ruling in favor of the school, the case was appealed last August. 

In the court’s June 9 decision, Chief Judge David Barron wrote that “we agree with the District Court” and that the school did not act “unreasonably in concluding that the shirt would be understood … in this middle school setting … to demean the identity of transgender and gender nonconforming [Nichols Middle School] students.”

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.

In upholding the district court’s decision, Barron wrote that “the question here is not whether the t-shirts should have been barred. The question is who should decide whether to bar them – educators or federal judges.”

Barron concluded that judgment “about what would make ‘an environment conducive to learning’” at Nichols Middle School should go to the “educators closest to the scene.” 

Sam Whiting, a staff attorney with Massachusetts Family Institute, wrote in a statement that he is “disappointed” by the appeals court’s decision but that “we aren’t done fighting yet.”

“Along with our partners at Alliance Defending Freedom, we are reviewing all legal options, including appealing to the United States Supreme Court,” he wrote.

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

“This case is about much more than a t-shirt,” wrote Whiting. “The court’s decision is not only a threat to the free speech rights of public school students across the country, but a threat to basic biological truths.”