The Supreme Court refused to hear a student’s challenge against his school district for preventing him from wearing a T-shirt to class that states “There are only two genders.”
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito expressed interest in reviewing the case, suggesting that the lower courts were distorting the First Amendment principles.
The big picture: Alito and Thomas highlighted that schools should tolerate dissenting student speech if they choose to educate students on social issues like LGBTQ rights or gender identity.
- The lower courts ruled that the school’s ban on the T-shirt did not violate the 1969 Tinker v Des Moines decision, which allowed students to wear armbands protesting the Vietnam War.
Driving the news: The student’s guardians, Christopher and Susan Morrison, sued the Middleborough, Massachusetts school district for prohibiting their child from wearing the T-shirt, along with another shirt that read “there are censored genders.”
- The lawsuit claims that the school’s actions allow suppression of unpopular views, permit censorship based on negative psychological impact, and fail to promote tolerance or protect free speech for expressions relating to personal identity characteristics.
- The student is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative legal organization that often handles cases related to gender and sexuality.
- The school district’s attorneys argued that the T-shirts could disrupt other students’ focus, particularly given the young age of the students and the mental health struggles of gender non-conforming individuals in the school.
What we’re watching: While the Supreme Court didn’t take up the case, they have agreed to hear a crucial case this term about transgender protections and whether Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors constitutes sex discrimination.
- A ruling on Tennessee’s gender-affirming care ban may influence similar laws in other states and is expected to be announced by early summer.
