The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a Massachusetts student who was banned from school for wearing a shirt criticizing the transgender movement on Tuesday.
The student, Liam Morrison, brought the case through his father and stepmother, Christopher and Susan Morrison. The plaintiffs argue Nichols Middle School violated his free speech rights when it banned him from wearing two T-shirts to school with the words “There are only two genders” and “There are [censored] genders” on the front.
Liam was sent home both times after he refused to change shirts. The school argued the shirts made his classmates feel unsafe, and a federal court agreed, saying the message was demeaning for transgender students.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both issued separate dissents, arguing the court should have taken up the case.
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The decision comes nearly a year after the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Liam and his parents in June 2024, finding that the school was justified in asking to remove the shirt and sending him home when he refused.
Morrison, who was in seventh grade at the time, was sent home with his father in May 2023 after he refused to take off the shirt, according to court documents. He later wore the same shirt with the words “only two” covered with a piece of tape on which “censored” was written. The school also told him to take this shirt off.
In a 2023 interview with Fox News Digital, Liam stressed that his T-shirt was not directed toward anyone, specifically people who are “lesbian or gay or transgender or anything like that.”
“I’m just voicing my opinion about a statement that I believe to be true,” he said at the time. “And I feel like some people may think that I’m imposing hate speech, even though it’s not directed towards anyone.”
The Morrison family was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Massachusetts Family Institute.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
