In October 2023, Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in L.M. v. Town of Middleborough. Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, punished a student, L.M., for expressing the view that “there are only two genders.” A federal trial court upheld the punishment.
Gender identity is a heated political and social debate. Some believe gender is subjective; others believe sex can’t be changed. Students hold different views, just like everyone else, and the Supreme Court has said they do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
The brief argues the trial court was wrong for two reasons:
- The school discriminated based on viewpoint. Middleborough allowed, and even encouraged, speech supporting the idea that there are more than two genders, but banned L.M.’s opposing view. That alone requires reversal.
- The school didn’t meet the Tinker standard. Under Tinker v. Des Moines, a school can limit student speech only if it would seriously disrupt schoolwork or invade the rights of others. Middleborough offered no evidence that any student was harmed beyond the discomfort of hearing an unpopular view, and it didn’t show L.M. targeted anyone. Hurt feelings are not enough.
Read the full brief below:
Case developments
PDE Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief in L.M. v. Town of Middleborough
