Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a free speech case involving a Massachusetts student who was punished for wearing a T-shirt indicating there are just two genders.
Fox News reported that Liam Morrison was sent home from Nichols Middle School in Middleborough in May 2023 when he refused to take off a shirt which read, “There are only two genders” and “There are [censored] genders” on the front.
He was in seventh grade at the time.
Morrison “later wore the same shirt with the words ‘only two’ covered with a piece of tape on which ‘censored’ was written. The school also told him to take this shirt off,” according to Fox.
The student told the network in 2023, “I’m just voicing my opinion about a statement that I believe to be true,” adding, “And I feel like some people may think that I’m imposing hate speech, even though it’s not directed towards anyone.”
I’m disappointed to learn that the Supreme Court has declined to hear Liam Morrison’s case.
Liam’s story is clear evidence that it’s too early to declare victory in the fight against gender ideology. As long as there are schools in America where students are encouraged to… pic.twitter.com/qozVBsgWMt
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) May 27, 2025
Both the federal district court and the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Morrison in a suit he brought against Middleborough, in which he argued his First Amendment right to free speech was being denied.
The appeals court concluded the school’s action was justified in upholding its dress code and no-bullying policy.
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“We see no reason to substitute our judgment for Middleborough’s with respect to its application of its Dress Code here,” the First Circuit held.
“We conclude the record supports as reasonable an assessment that the message in this school context would so negatively affect the psychology of young students with the demeaned gender identities that it would ‘poison the educational atmosphere’ … [and lead to] substantial disruption.”
In Alito’s dissent to the Supreme Court’s denial of review, which was joined by Thomas, the justice wrote, “This case presents an issue of great importance for our Nation’s youth: whether public schools may suppress student speech either because it expresses a viewpoint that the school disfavors or because of vague concerns about the likely effect of the speech on the school atmosphere or on students who find the speech offensive.
“In this case, a middle school permitted and indeed encouraged student expression endorsing the view that there are many genders. But when [Morrison], a seventh grader, wore a T-shirt that said ‘There Are Only Two Genders,’ he was barred from attending class.”
Alito argued, quoting court precedent, “‘[A]bove all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content.’ Otherwise, the government could purge entire topics from the public discourse. And as our cases recognize, these freedom-of-speech harms become ‘all the more blatant’ when the government ‘targets not subject matter, but particular views taken by speakers on a subject.’”
“The court below erred, and badly so,” he added.
In other words, the justice was highlighting that it was OK to wear pro-LGBT items to school, but Morrison’s “two genders” shirt was not acceptable.
“Students do not relinquish their First Amendment rights at school, and by extension, a school cannot censor a student’s speech merely because it is controversial,” Alito said.
Thomas separately wrote, “[T]he First Circuit distorted this Court’s First Amendment case law in significant ways that warrant this Court’s review.”
Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Morrison in the case, posted on social media platform X following the SCOTUS decision to deny review for her client, “Liam’s story is clear evidence that it’s too early to declare victory in the fight against gender ideology.”
She added, “As long as there are schools in America where students are encouraged to express one view of this topic — ‘gender is a spectrum’ — but forbidden from expressing a different view — ‘There Are Only Two Genders’ — we haven’t won yet.”
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