Last month, attorneys representing Liam Morrison, a seventh grader at Nichols Middle School (NMS) in Middleborough, Massachusetts, filed a federal lawsuit against school officials for violating his First Amendment rights after he was prohibited from wearing a shirt stating, “There are only two genders.” In a recent update, the lawsuit hit a wall.

We were asking for an immediate order so that he could express himself for the rest of the school year,” Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal counsel Logan Spena 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 recent hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston, Morrison’s attorneys requested a temporary injunction or restraining order to suspend the school’s ability to enforce the prohibition on Morrison’s expression of his views about gender. However, the court denied this request.

The incident occurred in March when Morrison arrived at school wearing the T-shirt in question. The school’s principal and a counselor pulled him out of class and informed him that he had to remove the shirt to be allowed back in. Morrison chose not to comply and was subsequently picked up by his father.

Following this incident, when NMS reiterated its stance on prohibiting Morrison from wearing the shirt, he responded by wearing a T-shirt that read “There are censored genders.” However, he was promptly instructed to remove it as well.

Morrison stated that his school allegedly frequently promotes messages related to gender identity and sexual orientation, such as displaying progress pride flags and transgender identity posters.

He argues that while the school encourages students to express views that align with its own ideological perspective, it is preventing him from respectfully expressing his own belief that there are only two genders.

The school officials and the town of Middleborough maintain that they have the authority to censor any speech they deem potentially offensive to other students.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for June 13, with Morrison’s legal representative expressing hope for a decision before the end of the school year on June 26, one that safeguards Morrison’s constitutional rights. In the event that the court rules against Morrison, his attorney plans to appeal the case to a higher court on behalf of the ADF.

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