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12-year-old Liam Morrison wearing the shirt school officials asked him to removeADF Media

(LifeSiteNews) — A 12-year-old boy who was forced by his school to remove a t-shirt with the words “there are only two genders” recently had his court initial request to be allowed to practice his First Amendment rights denied. 

Liam Morrison, a seventh grader in Middleborough, Massachusetts, took legal action against the town and John T. Nichols Jr. Middle School officials for silencing his unpopular opinion and violating his Constitutional right to free speech. During a preliminary hearing last week, a judge denied the boy’s request to order the school to respect his rights and allow him to wear the shirt, pending litigation. 

Wednesday’s ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston was preliminary, and the case is ongoing. Had the request been granted, the boy would have been able to freely express his views at school while litigation continued and before a final ruling had been made.

“A judge denied Liam Morrison’s request to immediately wear his ‘Two Genders’ shirt to school again,” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm representing the boy and his family in the case, wrote on Twitter. “But our case moves forward. Liam has the 1A [First Amendment] right to do what every other student is allowed to do: express his view on a matter of public concern.” 

“We were asking for an immediate order so that he could express himself for the rest of the school year,” Logan Spena, legal counsel for ADF, told Fox News Digital. “Liam’s suing for the right to do what every other student in his school currently has the right to do, which is respectfully express their own view on a matter of enormous public concern. What is the relationship between sex and gender?” 

In a May 30 press release from ADF, Spena added that the case “isn’t about a T-shirt; this is about a public school telling a 7th grader that he isn’t allowed to hold a view that differs from the school’s preferred orthodoxy.” 

“Public school officials can’t censor Liam’s speech by forcing him to remove a shirt that states a scientific fact. Doing so is a gross violation of the First Amendment that we’re urging the court to rectify.” 

The federal lawsuit was filed May 19, nearly two months after Morrison wore his “two genders” shirt to school. As previously reported by LifeSiteNews, the boy wore a different shirt to school in early May that read, “there are censored genders.” He was sent to the principal’s office upon arriving at his first class. The principal told him that he could stay at school if he took off the shirt and would be sent home if he did not. Morrison decided not to press the issue a second time and remained in school. 

As noted by ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom director, “the school’s own student handbook actually says that all aspects of public education should be available to members of both sexes” and “talks about a sex binary.” 

In April, Morrison addressed the school board in a brief speech that went viral on social media, wondering if his classmates’ “feelings [are] more important than my rights?” He added that he doesn’t complain about the “pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school” because “others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.” 

Public school institutions and districts across the country have consistently made headlines for suppressing conservative views while simultaneously promoting left-wing ideologies. As the so-called “pride month” of June begins, schools are pushing the LGBT agenda with greater force, with some using federal funds to do so.  

Other districts have faced backlash for allowing “After School Satan Clubs” to meet on school property. One Christian group in Rhode Island took legal action in March after secular and demonic clubs were allowed to meet on school property while a religious club was barred from doing so.  

RELATED: 

Parents protest Hollywood elementary school over LGBT ‘pride’ event promoting homosexual parenting 

Federal judge orders Pennsylvania school district to allow ‘After School Satan Club’ 

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