WASHINGTON – TheSupreme Courtallowed a middle school's ban on astudent's controversial T-shirtto remain in place, declining to take a case related to the child's "THERE ARE ONLY TWO GENDERS" message. The decision May 27 leaves in place a lower court's ruling that it was reasonable for the school to conclude the shirt could be disruptive. Two of the court's conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, said they would have taken the student's appeal. TheSupreme Court's move came as thedebate over transgender rightshas leaped to the forefront in the culture wars and after PresidentDonald Trumpdeclaredthat only two sexes, male and female, would be recognized by the federal government. "These sexes are not changeable," Trump stated inone of his first executive orders. U.S. medical associations support a spectrum of genders, including nonbinary. The American Psychological Association definesgenderas the attitude, feelings and behaviors a person associates with their sex. Liam Morrison wanted to share his views on the matter in 2023 when, as a seventh grader, he wore his "two genders" T-shirt to school. When the principal told Liam he couldn't return to class unless he changed his shirt,Liam opted to go home. As the controversy over the shirt increased, Liam later wore a version of the shirt with the word "censored" taped over "two genders." He was told to change that shirt, too. School officials said they were acting out of concern for gender-nonconforming students, some of whom had experienced serious mental health struggles − including thoughts of suicide − because of how they were treated by other students. Attorneys for Liam said the school violated his First Amendment rights to express a view different from the school's. Stories of belonging across the country:Sign upfor USA TODAY's This is America newsletter. Liam "sought to participate in his school's marketplace of ideas and address sociopolitical matters in a passive, silent, and untargeted way," lawyers with the Alliance Defending Freedom told the Supreme Court. "Students don't lose their free speech rights the moment they walk into a school building," David Cortman, an attorney with the group, said in astatementafter the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. "Schools can't suppress students' views they disagree with." The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the school, noting federal courts have ruled schools can restrict messages that can be reasonably interpreted to demean a person's identity and are reasonably expected to be disruptive. And school officials, Judge David Barron wrote, must have "some margin to make high-stakes assessments in conditions of inevitable uncertainty." "The question here is not whether the t-shirts should have been barred," Barron wrote. "The question is who should decide whether to bar them – educators or federal judges." In his dissent, Alito said the appeals court had watered down the Supreme Court's "demanding standard" for when schools can restrict a student's free speech rights. Free speech should be the rule, not the exception, he wrote. But the appeals court, Alito said, deferred to school officials' speculation about the effects of the T-shirt, even though there were no actual disruptions, and accepted the administrator's conclusion that the shirt's messaged demeaned others' personal identity. "Feeling upset, however, is an unavoidable part of living in our `often disputations' society," Alito wrote. And the desire to avoid discomfort or unpleasantness "is no reason to thwart a student's speech." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Supreme Court declines case on student's 'only two genders' T-shirt
