Attorneys for the seventh grade student in Middleboro, Massachusetts, who was told to change out of his controversial “there are only two genders” t-shirt, were back in federal court in South Boston on Tuesday.
The attorneys, who filed suit against the Town of Middleboro on behalf of the 12-year-old, said it looked like Liam Morrison legally may not be allowed to wear his shirt in school with less than two weeks left to this academic year.
“I just wanted to be able to voice my opinion,” Morrison said in an exclusive interview with NBC10 Boston. “If the court upholds the Constitution then I will be able to voice my opinion and my free speech.”
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The seventh grader is waiting for a final answer from the judge—expected within the next couple days—but, even his attorneys said based on the judge’s comments on Tuesday, it does not seem likely that Morrison will be allowed to wear the shirt that Nichols Middle School administrators told him to change out of earlier this year; citing a violation of the dress code, saying the shirt was causing a disruption.
“I think the school’s stance on this is likely just to create more disruption, because what the school is doing is allowing students to speak on the issue of gender generally, but only silencing particular students,” Logan Spena, an attorney on Morrison’s case, said.
NBC10 Boston tried speaking with attorneys representing the Town of Middleboro outside federal court Tuesday, but they did not want to comment on the case surrounding the shirt, or another time Morrison was told to change in school, when the shirt with the words “two genders” was covered by the word “censored”.
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NBC10 Boston reached out to Middleboro Public Schools for comment, but has not heard back.
Morrison’s attorneys plan on filing an appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, depending on the outcome in the next few days.
