A coalition of parents sued the Bow School District in New Hampshire on Monday after facing penalties and threats over a “silent protest” standing up for girls' sports.
Parents and a grandfather decide to wear pink wristbands during soccer games to show support for protecting girls' sports, but the school district threatens to arrest them for trespassing did. complaint state. In September, the New Hampshire Department of Education was temporarily blocked by a court from enforcing a state law that restricts biological males from participating in female sports.
In the complaint, the parents allege that the school district “colluded” with referees and police officers to intimidate and prevent the group from expressing their First Amendment rights. After the soccer game, the school banned those who raised their voices from entering school grounds and from participating in future games.
“The Bow School District's ban on demonstrations criticizing the decision to allow biological males to play girls' soccer, cloaked in the words 'obstruction' and 'harassment,' constitutes unconstitutional point-of-view discrimination,” the complaint states. states. “The First Amendment does not allow state-run schools to become ‘totalitarian enclaves.’
ANNAPOLIS – Oct. 29: Leonardtown High School's Christy Mirsky watched the final moments of the game from the bench during the Maryland High School 4A East girls soccer quarterfinal game between Leonardtown High School and Broadneck High School. (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post, Getty Images)
The school district's policy authorizes staff to monitor the behavior of people on school grounds and at school events, including “for school purposes or school-sponsored events, whether public or private.” ”, the complaint continues. The high school athletic handbook also states that the conduct and speech of individuals participating in games will be regulated.
A few days before the soccer game, Nicole Foote, the mother of one of the players on Bow's team, met with the athletic director and expressed concerns about the potential risks of allowing biological males to compete in women's sports. did. The suit states the school was prevented from doing anything. The athletic director sent an email the night before the game saying he would “mandate” all actions from the sideline in accordance with the playbook and that “inappropriate signs, references, and language” would not be tolerated.
According to the complaint, the athletic director also argued that it was okay to have some discriminatory opinions about the game. (Related: High school girls field hockey team confiscates male players from opponent's roster due to game over)
Some people wearing pink wristbands had written “○○” in support of the female players, but no parents were wearing wristbands on the sideline during the first half of the game. There was no outward sign of parent protest other than the wristband, but the athletic director told one parent that she had to remove the wristband, to which she responded that her First Amendment right to remove the wristband It claimed to protect its use.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in 2023 that would ban transgender women from participating in college sports. Like Texas, West Virginia passed a law banning biological males from participating in women's athletics, but a court blocked the law in April.
Bow High School did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation for comment.
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