Re: Defying 200+ Years of 1A Precedent, Federal Judge Rules XX Armbands Can be Banned

On 4/16/2025 12:39 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

 
 
https://nhjournal.com/judge-rules-school-can-ban-xx-protests-over-males-in-girls-sports/
 
 The Bow School District was acting within its authority to kick two soccer
 dads out of a girls game for wearing pink XX wristbands as a silent protest
 against biological males playing on girls' teams, a federal judge ruled
 Monday.
 
 But one of the dads, Anthony Foote, told NHJournal he plans to keep fighting
 for what he sees as the rights of women and girls.
 
 "What was our offense? Supporting girls' sports and defending biological
 reality?" Foote said. "This ruling is a slap in the face to every parent who
 believes schools should be a place of fairness, not political
indoctrination.
 The judge openly admitted that Pride flags are allowed because they promote
 'inclusion', but wristbands defending women's sports are banned because they
 might 'offend' someone. That's viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple
and
 it's unconstitutional."
 
 United States District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe ruled against Foote,
Kyle
 Fellers, Eldon Rash, and Nicole Foote in a 45-page order denying their
 preliminary injunction against SAU 67. The parents are being represented by
 the Institute for Free Speech, a legal nonprofit that promotes parents'
 rights. Del Kolde, the senior attorney, said he is still considering his
next
 steps in this case.
 
 "We strongly disagree with the court's opinion issued today denying our
 request for a preliminary injunction. This was adult speech in a limited
 public forum, which enjoys greater 1st Amendment protection than student
 speech in the classroom. Bow School District officials were obviously
 discriminating based on viewpoint because they perceived the XX wristbands
to
 be 'trans-exclusionary''. We are still evaluating our options for next
steps,"
 Kolde said.
 
 The crux of McAuliffe's ruling is that while Fellers, Foote, and the others
 acted within their 1st Amendment rights to protest, venues like school
 athletic events are considered "limited public forums" and school officials
 acted within their legal authority to restrict what the parents said and
did.
 
 "The question then becomes whether the School District can manage its
athletic
 events and its athletic fields and facilities  that is, its limited public
 forum  in a manner that protects its students from adult speech that can
 reasonably be seen to target a specific student participating in the event
(as
 well as other similar gender-identifying students) by invited adult
 spectators, when that speech demeans, harasses, intimidates, and bullies.
The
 answer is straightforward: Of course it can. Indeed, school authorities are
 obligated to do so," McAuliffe wrote.
 
 For days before the Sept. 10, 2024, game, Anthony Foote and Fellers made it
 known to school officials that they were unhappy Bow High School was going
to
 play a game against a girls' team with a biological male player, Parker
 Tirrell.
 
 Days before the game, Tirrell made national news with a court victory
against
 the state of New Hampshire's law barring biological males from girls'
sports.
 
 The dads went on social media to discuss various protest ideas, according to
 the evidence in the case. McAuliffe wrote that it is reasonable, given the
 context of the game, for SAU 67 administrators to be concerned that the
 potential protests would be interpreted by Tirrell as bullying and
harassing.
 
 And as such, the judge ruled, the school had the right to limit the dads'
 speech.
 
 "The message generally ascribed to the XX symbol, in a context such as that
 presented here, can reasonably be understood as directly assaulting those
who
 identify as transgender women," McAuliffe wrote. "Because gender identities
 are characteristics of personal identity that are 'unalterable or otherwise
 deeply rooted', the demeaning of which 'strikes a person at the core of his
 being', and because Bow school authorities reasonably interpreted the
symbols
 used by plaintiffs, in context, as conveying a demeaning and harassing
 message, they properly interceded to protect students from injuries likely
to
 be suffered."
 
 Fellers and Foote have maintained they were not targeting or harassing any
 particular student with their wristbands. McAuliffe ruled that, even
accepting
 their stated intent not to harass Tirrell, the broader context for the game
 made the SAU's actions reasonable and justified.
 
 "While plaintiffs may very well have never intended to communicate a
demeaning
 or harassing message directed at Parker Tirrell or any other transgender
 students, the symbols and posters they displayed were fully capable of
 conveying such a message and that broader messaging is what the school
 authorities reasonably understood and appropriately tried to prevent,"
 McAuliffe said.
 
 Critics of the judge's ruling say that it is clearly viewpoint
discrimination
 and the judge's view that "gender identity" is "inalterable" isn't based on
 biological fact or in law.
 
 McAuliffe has yet to rule on the permanent injunction. Fellers, Foote, and
the
 other parents are seeking to allow them to protest at school games and other
 events.

 
I wonder if, say, Swastika hats should be permitted on the sidelines.