New Hampshire parents sue school district over ban following ‘silent protest’ against trans football player

A group of New Hampshire parents and a grandparent filed a lawsuit against a school district Monday over their exclusion from a girls’ soccer game for staging a protest against a transgender player.

Kyle Fellers, Anthony Foote, Nicole Foote and Eldon Rash filed a federal lawsuit against the Bow School District, Superintendent of Schools Marcy Kelley, Principal Matt Fisk, Athletic Director Mike Desilets, Bow Police Lt. Phil Lamy and football referee Steve Rossetti.

The lawsuit says Fellers and Anthony Foote were banned from a Sept. 17 girls’ soccer game between Bow High School and Plymouth Regional High School, during which they wore pink wristbands with “XX” displayed to symbolize the structure of the female chromosome and express support for biology. female athletes.

According to the lawsuit, the “silent protest” at Bow High School was intended to “show solidarity” with the Bow team and to oppose a policy allowing a transgender girl to play on the Plymouth team.

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Bow school officials and a police officer confronted the plaintiffs during the game and asked them to remove the wristbands, according to the lawsuit. But when the plaintiffs refused to remove them, a referee allegedly stopped play and said Bow would be forced to abandon the game if the bracelets were not removed.

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Fellers and Anthony Foote were issued “no trespassing orders” barring them from the school and events after the incident, which included prohibiting them from picking up their children from after-school practices. Anthony Foote was banned until September 23, while Fellers was barred from returning for the remainder of the fall term.

“Parents do not give up their First Amendment rights when entering a school’s football field,” Fellers said in a statement. “We wore pink bracelets to silently support our girls and their right to fair competition. Instead of fostering open dialogue, school officials responded with threats and bans that directly impact our lives and on those of our children And this fight is not just about sport, it is about protecting our fundamental right to freedom of expression.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent the “unconstitutional enforcement” of several school policies, including those that require “mutual respect, civility and orderly conduct” and that prohibit actions that “injure, threaten, harass or intimidate” or ” hinder, delay, disrupt or otherwise interfere with any school activity or function.

The plaintiffs asked the court to prohibit the school from using these policies to restrict non-disruptive expression of political or social views at school events, including silently wearing wristbands or displaying signs in the parking lot to oppose allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ competitive events. sports teams.

“The idea that I would be censored and threatened with exclusion from a public event for upholding my beliefs is not just a personal affront: it is an attack on the very rights I have sworn to defend.” said Anthony Foote. “I spent 31 years in the United States Army, including three combat tours, and the school district in the town where I was born – the town in which my family has seven generations of history – took away those rights. I sometimes wonder if I should We are here, fighting for our rights, rather than abroad. »

GOP governor reveals why he ordered schools to bar transgender athletes from girls’ sports

Earlier this month, a federal judge temporarily blocked a New Hampshire law banning transgender women from playing on sports teams based on their preferred gender identity.

Original article source: New Hampshire parents sue school district over ban following ‘silent protest’ against trans football player