In one of the most egregious encroachments on free speech in schools yet, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled that a public school was right to reprimand a student who wore a shirt, saying that there are ‘only two genders’.

The judge said that the shirt may be considered bullying against ‘protected classes’.

She said that a school may prohibit speech that is not consistent with its ‘basic educational mission.”

“A school need not tolerate student speech that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission,” She said in the ruling.

The decision drew criticism from conservatives, with a prominent defense attorney who grew up in the Soviet Union expressing concern about disregard for ‘basic scientific facts’ concerning gender.

“As someone who grew up in the USSR getting her teeth drilled without novocaine the idea that today’s US kids complain and prohibit— with the help of judges— another kid from wearing a shirt stating a scientific fact b/c it hurts their feelings is just…” She said.

The boy who wore the shirt, a 12-year-old student at Middlesborough Public School, spoke out at a school board meeting about the decision.

“Who is this protected class, and are their feelings more important than my rights?” He said.

He further said that there was a clear double standard about what speech was permitted at his school.

“I don’t complain when I see pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout this school,” he continued. “Because others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.”

WATCH:

The Post Millenial Reports–

On Friday, a federal judge in Massachusettes ruled a shirt that read “THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS” could be construed as bullying of a protected class and is not protected speech after a 12-year-old and his father filed suit against officials in the Middlesbrough Public School district for First and Fourteenth Amendment rights violations.

Judge Indira Talwani said in the court ruling, the boy and his father had “not established a likelihood of success on the merits where he is unable to counter Defendants’ showing that enforcement of the Dress Code was undertaken to protect the invasion of the rights of other students to a safe and secure educational environment.”

 

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