This Week's MIP Digest
"There Are Only Two Genders" T-Shirt Controversy, Exposing the MOST Graphic Book in School Libraries, and more.
It’s time for another edition of the MIP Digest!
The MIP Digest is a regular feature where we share the great information that has been posted to the MIP Facebook group during the previous week. The MIP Digest won’t capture all of the interesting comments and conversations that happen in the Facebook group, but it will include the highlights and provide a quick overview of the content, in case you missed it.
First, here are the posts from our Admins:
“There Are Only Two Genders” T-Shirt Controversy: A Courageous 12-Year Old, a Violation of Rights, and a National News Story
MIP had multiple posts this week about Liam Morrison, the courageous 12-year-old Middleborough student who was sent home from school for wearing a shirt that read: “There are only two genders.” Massachusetts Family Institute is defending this young man’s constitutional rights. This story evolved from a local story to national news over the course of the week. Here are our posts, in order of when they appeared in MIP.
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Sunday, April 30th
Attention Middleborough Parents!
A twelve-year-old Middleborough middle school student was sent home because he refused to change the shirt he was wearing that stated, “There are only two genders.” School officials claimed his shirt was hate speech. Read the article from the New Boston Post HERE.
This young man spoke very articulately to the school committee at a subsequent school committee meeting, confronting them about the violation of his First Amendment right to free speech.
An attorney from the Massachusetts Family Institute sent a letter to the district’s superintendent informing her they had violated the student’s Constitutional right to free speech and that the young student planned to wear the shirt to school again in May. The letter hinted at a law suit if the school violates the student’s rights again.
Read the student’s address to the school committee HERE, the superintendent’s statement HERE, and the full letter from the MFI attorney to the superintendent HERE. Listen to the student’s address to the school committee HERE, around the 9:30 mark.
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Monday, May 1
The video of the Middleborough middle school student who spoke at a recent school committee meeting to address the violation of his First Amendment rights by school officials has been viewed over 5 million times after being posted by the popular Libs of TikTok Twitter account. The young student was sent home after refusing to change his shirt that said, “There are only two genders.”
Massachusetts Family Institute is providing the student legal help.
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Friday, May 5
The Middleborough School District is doubling down and denying middle school student Liam Morrison the right to wear his shirt that says, ‘There Are Only Two Genders,’ to school today.
From the article:
In a statement to NewBostonPost on Thursday afternoon, a Massachusetts Family Institute spokesman said that Middleborough school officials “have made it clear that they do not respect the free speech rights of students like Liam.”
”School administrators claim that Liam’s ‘There Are Only Two Genders’ shirt was ‘hate speech’ and ‘bullying.’ We believe they are going to have a hard time explaining that position to a federal judge,” the spokesman said, calling the move “censorship.”
Read the full article HERE.
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Friday, May 5
MA middle school student Liam Morrison is brave. God bless him!
The Middleborough School District previously denied Liam his right to free speech by punishing him for wearing a shirt to school that said, "There Are Only Two Genders.' Liam's story went viral after the popular Libs of Tik Tok account tweeted it out.
Liam wore the shirt shown in the photos below to school today. And school officials made him change it.
When Liam was sent home from school previously for expressing his views Massachusetts Family Institute sent a demand letter informing the district it had denied Liam's constitutional right to free speech. The letter went on further to say that the district was opening itself up to legal action if it violated those rights again. Apparently, the letter citing extensive case law in Liam's favor wasn't enough to deter their illegal action again today. Read MFI’s demand letter HERE.
Middleborough parents, how do you feel about your district spending thousands of dollars over a futile legal battle to deny a student his constitutional right to free speech? Couldn't this money be put to better use to increase the quality of academics taught in the district? If you can think of better ways to spend your tax dollars, contact your school committee members HERE and respectfully let them know how you feel.
Check Out These Interviews with Liam Morrison and his Attorney, MFI's Sam Whiting
Fox News Digital just dropped this article today (Friday): "7th-grade student fights back after school told him to change his ‘There are only two genders’ T-shirt."
If you've been following Liam's story, you won't want to miss it!
From the article:
"The middle school student said he wore the shirt because he wanted to express his First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
"The reason that I wore it is because, well, everyone has a right to their opinions and I want to be able to voice mine on a subject that a lot of people were talking about," he explained. "I definitely don't like that they violated what is basically the first thing that the people who were in charge of America at the time stated we were allowed to do and nowadays it feels like that's being taken away a lot, which is why some people choose to speak up about it. It's not just me."
The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), a non-partisan public policy organization, sent a demand letter Monday to NMS laying out how it violated Morrison’s First Amendment rights.
Sam Whiting, a staff attorney for the organization and one of the lawyers representing the Morrison family, told Fox News Digital the action the school took is a 'pretty plain case of censorship.'"
Read the rest, and watch Liam and Sam's interviews HERE.
Just Published: 2023 “Dirty Dozen List”
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has published their 2023 Dirty Dozen List. Parents, follow the link below to learn how children are being sexually exploited on popular platforms.
Read the whole list HERE.
Be equipped to protect your kids! If you don’t protect them, who will?
Let's Talk About "Let's Talk About It" -- Pornographic Instruction Packaged for Teens (and Younger!)
Attention parents! This pornographic and sexual grooming book has been found in the Old Rochester Regional, Cambridge, and Barnstable school districts. It is by far the worst content being made available to MA students that MIP has uncovered to date.
Please read our Substack post about it (linked HERE), and then share it widely.
Check to see if this book is in your school district. Instructions on how to find out are included in the Substack post. If the book turns up in your school district’s catalog, comment on the post and let us know!
Other helpful links shared by MIP members this week:
Moms for Liberty Resource Library
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