The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in the case of a Massachusetts public school student punished for wearing a shirt stating, “There are only 2 genders.”
In an orders list released Tuesday morning, the high court declined to grant a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of L.M. v. Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts, et. al.
As a result, an earlier ruling from the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against the minor student and his parents is allowed to stand.
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Justice Samuel Alito authored a dissenting opinion to the denial of the petition, which was included in the orders list. He was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.
“This case presents an issue of great importance for our Nation’s youth: whether public schools may suppress student speech either because it expresses a viewpoint that the school disfavors or because of vague concerns about the likely effect of the speech on the school atmosphere or on students who find the speech offensive,” wrote Alito.
“So long as the First Circuit’s opinion is on the books, thousands of students will attend school without the full panoply of First Amendment rights. That alone is worth this Court’s attention.”
In March 2023, Liam Morrison, a John T. Nichols Middle School student, was removed from class and ordered to remove his shirt because it said, “There are only two genders.”
Later that year, Morrison wore the shirt again, though he put tape over the “only two” part, writing the word “censored” on the tape. Once again, school officials told him to change his clothes.
According to an interview shortly after the incident, Morrison claimed that many of his classmates supported his actions and that he encouraged people of all viewpoints to express their beliefs.
“Always fight for what you believe in. and well, never let anyone stop you from believing,” he added. “But, it’s being taken away from us. And being able to speak up not just about your own opinion, but for everybody else.”
A lawsuit was filed on his behalf by his parents, with the complaint accusing the school of violating Morrison’s First Amendment rights. The school argued that the shirt violated the official dress code, which prohibited clothing with hateful messaging.
A three-judge panel of the 1st Circuit unanimously ruled against Morrison in June 2024, upholding a lower court decision.
Circuit Chief Judge David Barron, an Obama appointee, authored the panel opinion, concluding that, under certain circumstances, “school officials may bar passive and silently expressed messages by students at school that target no specific student.”
Barron added that while “in many realms of public life one must bear the risk of being subjected to messages that are demeaning of race, sex, religion, or sexual orientation,” the court does not believe “that our public schools must be a similarly unregulated place.”
“L.M. himself acknowledged at oral argument that schools could bar silent, passive expression that described persons who identify as transgender in obviously highly demeaning terms but targeted no specific individual,” wrote Barron.
