MIDDLEBORO — A judge has again denied a legal request that Liam Morrison, a rising eighth grader at Nichols Middle School, be allowed to wear his shirt reading “There Are Only Two Genders’’ to school while litigation continues.

Morrison’s family has filed suit against the school district and the town, saying that school officials have violated the student’s First Amendment rights by prohibiting him from wearing the shirt to school. 

The town and schools have countered 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 a June 16 ruling, United States District Judge Indira Talwani denied Morrison’s request, which she said could only be granted if there was a “strong likelihood’’ that he will ultimately prevail in court.

She questioned whether that was the case here. “While students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate, schools may impose limitations on speech,’’ she wrote.

“School administrators were well within their discretion to conclude that the statement “There Are Only Two Genders’ may communicate that only two gender identities _ male and female _ are valid, and any others are invalid or nonexistent.’’

She said they might reasonably “conclude that students who identify differently, whether they do so openly or not, have a right to attend school without being confronted by messages attacking their identities.’’

Talwani noted that Liam has been allowed to wear other shirts with other messages, including  “Don’t Tread on Me”; “First Amendment Rights”; “Freedom Over Fear”; and “Let’s Go Brandon,” which is generally perceived as a criticism of President Joe Biden.

Liam has argued that his shirt’s message is not threatening or harmful to anyone and that preventing him from wearing it is a violation of his rights. He also said that some students have reached out to him in support and asked how they could obtain a similar shirt.

Attorneys for the Morrison family plan to appeal the ruling, according to a statement from Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom.

“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling denying Liam the opportunity to wear his shirt to school and exercise his freedom of speech,’’ Langhofer said. “Public school officials cannot censor a seventh grader’s free speech by forcing him to remove a shirt that states a scientific fact. Doing so is a gross violation of the First Amendment and we will be appealing this ruling to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.”

No date has been set for the entire case to be heard by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.