‘There are only two genders’ – High schooler punished for text message

“This case shows that schools increasingly not only think that their role is to instill the correct ideological beliefs in students but to enforce those beliefs,” the family’s lawyer said.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

The mother of a high school student who was banned from playing a football game for a private text message conversation in which he stated that there are only two genders is speaking out, calling the school’s decision to punish her son “shocking.”

“My son had already told me about the incident, so I knew what had happened,” the New Hampshire mother told Fox News.

“When I saw the text messages, I agreed with my son. All he did was state an opinion. I defended him on the phone to the vice principal and said, ‘He has a right to his opinion.’”

The mother and son have filed a lawsuit against Exeter High School and Vice Principal Mary Dovholuk for violating the student’s constitutional right to free speech and the New Hampshire Bill of Rights.

The school had justified their punishment of the student by arguing that he violated a school policy which mandates that students respect the gender identities of their classmates.

Although the student in question had not used an incorrect pronoun while addressing a classmate, he did question the logic around a “nonbinary” classmate stating that their preferred pronoun was “they.”

When speaking about the issue with another classmate on the bus ride home, a female student who eavesdropped on the conversation became offended by his statements.

The female classmate later obtained his phone number in order to demand that he accept her point of view.

“Gender and sex mean the same thing,” he responded to her, in text message transcripts obtained by Fox News. “There are only two genders and sexes.”

The female classmate then showed the private conversation, which took place off school property and outside of learning hours, to school officials.

The officials moved to punish the player for his statement that there are only two genders and sexes, which he said is confirmed by his Catholic faith.

“This case shows that schools increasingly not only think that their role is to instill the correct ideological beliefs in students but to enforce those beliefs,” the family’s lawyer, Ian Huyett, told Fox News.

“Fortunately, they have no constitutional ability to do that, and it’s important they be reminded of that.”