Every day, kids across the country go to school wearing shirts with words emblazoned across the front. From supporting a favorite sports team to commemorating a favorite vacation spot, shirts expressing messages are a common sight at school. One middle school in Massachusetts encourages students to speak on more controversial topics too, urging them to “wear your Pride gear to celebrate Pride Month.”
When one student at the school, seventh-grader Liam Morrison, wore a shirt with a few simple words stating a biological fact, he was simply expressing a message that was important to him—a message about the same topic his school encouraged other students to address. He wasn’t disturbing anyone or attacking any other beliefs, but that didn’t stop his school from censoring him.
Punished for a simple message
Liam Morrison is now a high school student. Previously, he attended John T. Nichols, Jr. Middle School in Middleborough, where he was on the honor roll. As a seventh-grader, Liam saw school officials embracing ideas about identity that he disagrees with. For example, the school hosted a “Pride Week” in June in which students were encouraged to celebrate the ideology of gender identity. But when Liam wore a shirt expressing his own beliefs about gender, he was censored.
Liam believes in the biological fact that there are only two sexes: male and female. And like many people, he considers the terms “sex” and “gender” to be interchangeable.
That’s a starkly different message than the one promoted by Nichols Middle School about gender identity. The school has embraced the belief that people can be male, female, or any number of other “genders” and that a person’s expressed identity—not their biology—is what makes them male or female, or something else.
As Liam saw his school advocate its own beliefs about gender identity, he felt inspired to peacefully share his views on this issue. He respects the rights of others to express their beliefs, and he simply wanted to do the same.
In March 2023, Liam came to school wearing a T-shirt with the message, “There are only two genders.” But during his first class of the day, Liam was removed by the school principal.
The principal told Liam that there had been complaints about his shirt and that he must remove it to return to class. Liam politely declined to remove the shirt, so the principal called Liam’s father and sent him home for the rest of the day.
A few weeks later, Liam’s attorney sent a letter to school officials informing them that they had violated Liam’s right to free speech. The officials refused to acknowledge that they had acted unlawfully and said they would continue to prevent Liam from wearing his shirt.
After this exchange, Liam wore a shirt to school with the message, “There are [censored] genders.” The principal again told Liam that he was not allowed to wear the shirt, and Liam agreed not to wear it so that he would not miss another day of classes.
Liam has been unable to wear either message on his shirt since that time, even though the messages caused no disruptions and simply stated his beliefs. School officials violated Liam’s First Amendment rights by preventing him from expressing his views.
ADF takes action
In May 2023, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit against Nichols Middle School on Liam’s behalf. Unfortunately, both a federal district court and then an appeals court ruled against Liam’s freedom of speech.
In light of those decisions, ADF attorneys filed a petition in October 2024 asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Liam’s case.
Nichols Middle School has no problem allowing students to express beliefs about gender and sexuality when it agrees with those beliefs. In fact, it encourages students to express those beliefs. But the school actively prevented Liam from expressing his own beliefs on the very same issue.
Government officials can’t pick and choose which messages to allow on a certain issue. The First Amendment protects freedom for all, not just those with whom the government agrees.
L.M. v. Town of Middleborough
- March 2023: Liam Morrison wore a shirt to Nichols Middle School with the message, “There are only two genders.” The principal told Liam he must remove the shirt to attend class, and when Liam politely declined, he was forced to go home for the day.
- May 2023: Liam wore a shirt with the message, “There are [censored] genders,” and the principal again made him remove the shirt to attend class. ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit against the school for violating Liam’s First Amendment rights.
- August 2023: After a federal district court ruled against Liam’s right to speak freely, ADF attorneys appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
- June 2024: The 1st Circuit ruled against Liam.
- October 2024: ADF attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Liam’s case.
