WATCH: Courageous 7th Grade Boy Challenges School Board — Sent Home For 'There Are Only Two Genders' T-Shirt

Twelve-year-old Liam Morrison of Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts stood before his local board last month. With amazing courage, the young boy described the scenario that led him to be sent home from school by staff. He wasn't in a fight, he wasn't belligerent. He wore a t-shirt that said, "There are only two genders," and was told by administrators that his shirt made people feel "unsafe."

According to Timcast News, the seventh grader told the Middleborough School Committee at a meeting on April 13th,

"Yes, words on a shirt made people feel unsafe. They told me that I wasn’t in trouble, but it sure felt like I was. I was told that I would need to remove my shirt before I could return to class. When I nicely told them that I didn’t want to do that, they called my father."

Libs of TikTok shared a video of the meeting on Twitter with the caption, "Watch him destroy the school board."

A 12-year-old in @MiddleboroughPS was allegedly sent home from school and told he’s making people feel unsafe for wearing a shirt that said “there are only 2 genders.” Watch him destroy the school board 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hCBO5wXIgh

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 30, 2023

Morrison was reportedly told that the shirt was “targeting a protected class” and was given the paper-thin excuse that this presented a “disruption to learning.” He told the committee, "Thankfully, my dad, supportive of my decisions, came to pick me up. What did my shirt say? Five simple words: There are only two genders. Nothing harmful. Nothing threatening. Just a statement I believe to be a fact."

Even at a precocious 12-years-old, Morrison was direct:

"Who is this protected class? Are their feelings more important than my rights?"

With the brutal honesty that youth affords us and stands forgotten by most adults, he added,

"I don’t complain when I see Pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school. Do you know why? Because others have a right to their beliefs, just as I do."

Addressing the school's justification for sending him home the boy explained, "I was told that the shirt was a disruption to learning.” 

“No one got up and stormed out of class," he pointed out. "No one burst into tears. I’m sure I would have noticed if they had. I experience disruptions to my learning every day. Kids acting out in class are a disruption, yet nothing is done. Why do the rules apply to one yet not another?"

Morrison's takeaway from the experience was hopeful though and a model for any adult finding themselves in a similar situation. He said, "I have learned a lot from this experience. I learned that a lot of other students share my view. I learned that adults don’t always do the right thing or make the right decisions. I know that I have a right to wear a shirt with those five words. Even at 12 years old, I have my own political opinions and I have a right to express those opinions. Even at school. This right is called the First Amendment to the Constitution."

Under the Supreme Court Decision in Tinker v. Des Moines, wherein a group of students was suspended in 1965 for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, the Warren Court ruled 7-2 in favor of the students.

Such legal legends as Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Thurgood Marshall concurred in the majority decision rendered by Justice Abe Fortas that established the standard of "substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities," which appears to gives Morrison's argument that no disruption occurred good legal standing. 

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