Overview

• The Court declined to review a First Circuit ruling that Nichols Middle School reasonably forecast the shirt’s message would disrupt transgender and gender-nonconforming classmates’ learning.
• Liam Morrison sued after he was sent home in March 2023 for refusing to remove his “There are only two genders” T-shirt under the school’s dress code.
• Both a federal district judge and the Boston-based appeals court held that Tinker v. Des Moines allows schools to restrict speech forecast to cause serious negative impact.
• School officials cited a ban on hate speech targeting protected groups and pointed to transgender students’ mental health struggles in defending the prohibition.
• The refusal to hear the case comes as the Supreme Court readies a major decision on Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.