Mother of a New Hampshire boy suspended by the school for claiming that there are “only two genders” is prepared to defend his rights to free speech and religious freedom in court.
"My first reaction was that I was shocked," the woman who prefers to stay anonymous told Fox News.
She added that she had agreed with her son’s opinion and defended him during a conversation with Exeter High School’s vice principal Marcy Dovholuk by saying that “he has a right to his opinion."
Now the student and his mother are suing the school and Dovholuk on the grounds of violation of the boy’s right to free speech. The documents filed on November 4 in Rockingham Superior Court also say that the views expressed by the boy were in line with his Catholic faith and therefore can be considered as an expression of religious freedom.
According to the family’s lawyer Ian Huyett, this case demonstrates that schools not only view the implantation of “the correct ideological beliefs in students” as their mission but also are actively enforcing these beliefs. Therefore the lawsuit seeks not only nominal damages but also an injunction that would prevent school from enforcing the “Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” policy.
The teen who is named as M.P. in the court files, first mentioned that there were “only two genders” during a conversation with a group of schoolmates prompted by a request of one student to be referred to as “they”. The discussion continued in a text message exchange that later was brought to the attention of the school administration. Next day M.P. was suspended for one week from playing football for “not respecting pronouns” and for use of impolite language, though later the punishment was cut to one day.
M.P. does not deny that his claims were contradicting the school rules stating that “intentional or persistent refusal to respect a student's gender identity” is considered as a violation of the policy.
However, according to the lawyer, he continues to believe that there are only two genders and therefore will never refer to any other person as “they”.
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