A federal judge ruled that a New Hampshire school district can prohibit parents from silently protesting male participation in girls’ sports. The decision allows the Bow School District to ban pink “XX” wristbands worn by parents opposing a transgender athlete playing on a high school girls’ team.
The dispute began in September 2024 when parents Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote attended a girls’ soccer match where Parker Tirrell, a biological male identifying as female, played. Fellers and Foote wore pink wristbands marked with “XX” to silently express support for girls’ rights to fair competition. School officials responded by issuing no-trespass orders against both men, barring them from school events. The orders have since expired.
The parents filed a federal lawsuit, asserting the school violated their First Amendment rights. Represented by the Institute for Free Speech, they sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the school from enforcing such bans in the future.
U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe denied the request on Monday. He ruled that the wristbands could reasonably be perceived as demeaning or harassing toward the transgender student-athlete, regardless of the parents’ intent. The judge stated that the school’s responsibility to protect students from potentially harmful or targeted speech justified restricting the wristband protest.
McAuliffe emphasized that schools are permitted to limit speech at events when it disrupts or interferes with the educational environment. According to the judge, the pink wristbands, though silent, carried a message that could be interpreted as offensive or exclusionary.
Foote spoke out against the ruling, stating, “This ruling is a slap in the face to every parent who believes schools should be a place of fairness, not political indoctrination. The judge openly admitted that Pride flags are allowed because they promote ‘inclusion,’ but wristbands defending women’s sports are banned because they might ‘offend’ someone. That’s viewpoint discrimination, plain and simple — and it’s unconstitutional.”
The Institute for Free Speech condemned the ruling as viewpoint discrimination and indicated that further legal action is being considered. “We strongly disagree with the Court’s opinion issued today denying our request for a preliminary injunction. This was adult speech in a limited public forum, which enjoys greater First Amendment protection than student speech in the classroom. Bow School District officials were obviously discriminating based on viewpoint because they perceived the XX wristbands to be ‘trans-exclusionary.’ We are still evaluating our options for next steps,” attorney Del Kolde stated.
Fellers and Foote maintain that their protest was peaceful and aimed at protecting female athletes’ rights, not targeting any individual student.
The decision adds to the ongoing national debate over the role of biological males in girls’ sports, particularly at the high school level. Several states have already enacted laws to restrict participation based on biological sex, citing fairness and safety concerns.
