Judge rules against dads who wore pink wristbands to protest trans high school

[Jessica_Rose]

Judge rules against dads who wore pink wristbands to protest trans high school athletes

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-rules-against-dads-who-wore-pink-wristbands-to-protest-trans-high-school-athletes/ar-AA1CUQ0L?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=565bbeb534a441e781e554e5a4de9d3a&ei=33

Story by HOLLY RAMER (14 April 2025)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two fathers who oppose allowing transgender athletes to play high school sports won't be allowed to wear pink wristbands marked "XX" to games while their lawsuit against the school district continues, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote were banned from school grounds in Bow after wearing the wristbands to a soccer game in September that included a transgender girl on the opposing team. They later sued the school district, and while the no-trespass orders have since expired, they asked the judge to allow them to carry signs and wear the wristbands featuring the symbol for female chromosomes at school events while the case proceeds.

But in denying their motion Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe said the parents' "narrow, plausibly inoffensive" intentions weren't as important as the wider context, and that adults attending a high school athletic event do not enjoy a First Amendment protected right to convey messages that demean, harass or harm students.

"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," he wrote. "And, that broader messaging is what the school authorities reasonably understood and appropriately tried to prevent."