According to a report, a 12-year-old Massachusetts pupil claims he was expelled for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “There are only two genders.”
When asked to change out of his t-shirt at John T. Nichols Jr. Middle School, Liam Morrison informed the Middleborough School Council that his father had to pick him up.
Morrison argued the school system was violating his First Amendment rights by making him remove the shirt. Before he could go back to class, he was instructed to take off his shirt. When he politely declined, they contacted his father.
Morrison said before the school board that on March 21, he was pulled from gym class for a conversation with school administrators because of complaints from students that his shirt made them feel “unsafe.” Morrison claims that the school administration warned him that the phrase on his shirt was presumably targeting transgender and nonbinary persons and it was a disruption.
In his speech to the school committee, the 12-year-old battled against such assertions.
He continued, saying he didn’t come to classes that day to upset people or create problems. Who exactly is this protected class? Asked Morrison. Is their emotional well-being more essential than my rights?
Morrison stated that the experience had taught him a great deal. He discovered that many other kids feel the same way he does. As a result, he now knows that grown-ups don’t always make the best choices. He is well aware of his legal entitlement to wear a tee with those phrases and has the freedom to voice his political views and ideas even if he is only 12 years old. The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees this freedom.
He summarized that next time, it might not just be him. There may be more who choose to come forward in the near future.
