Story by Jamal Osborne • © Provided by Hollywood Unlocked — A12-year-old middle school student is speaking out after he said he was sent home from school for refusing to remove a T-shirt that read: “There are only two genders.”

The 7th grader, Liam Morrison attends John T. Nichols Jr. middle school and during a board meeting on April 13 he revealed to Middleborough Public Schools that he was in gym class on day and someone on the school’s staff told him that he had to take his shirt off because people were complaining that it was making them feel unsafe. “Yes, words on a shirt made people feel unsafe. They told me that I wasn’t in trouble, but it sure felt like I was,” Morrison told the MPS board. “I was told that I would need to remove my shirt before I could return to class. When I nicely told them that I didn’t want to do that, they called my father.”

Morrison said he was told by school staff his shirt was “targeting a protected class.” “Who is this protected class?” Morrison asked the board. “Are their feelings more important than my rights?” “I don’t complain when I see pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school,” Morrison continued. “Do you know why? Because others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.” Morrison told the board that what staff was telling him about his shirt — that it was making people around him uncomfortable — happened to be the opposite of the feedback he had been receiving from his peers that day. Morrison said that not a single student or staff approached him and told him they were bothered by his T-shirt prior to being pulled out of his gym class. Rather, Morrison insisted, several of his peers said they supported his action and said they wanted a shirt like his too.

The middle schooler also spoke to “disruptions” to his learning that he experiences on a daily basis by other students acting out in class, but frequently nothing is done. “Why do the rules apply to one, yet not another?” Morrison asked. “I feel like these adults were telling me that it wasn’t okay for me to have an opposing view.” Morrison said his purpose for bringing this matter to the school board’s attention was in hopes they would speak up in support of students’ First Amendment rights.

The National Desk (TND) reached out to both school and district officials for comment, and to inquire whether they supported the decision to send Morrison home from school for his shirt, but did not receive a response prior to publication. TND also probed whether any disciplinary action would take place against the administrator involved in sending Morrison home. If a response is received this story will be updated. The post 7th Grader Speaks Out After Being Sent Home For Wearing T-Shirt Th