MIDDLEBOROUGH, Massachusetts (LifeSiteNews) — A video of a middle school student defending to a school board his decision to wear a T-shirt affirming biological truth has gone viral.
During an April 13 school committee meeting, Liam Morrison, a seventh grader at John T. Nichols, Jr. Middle School in Middleborough, MA, recounted his experience of being removed from class because of the message on his shirt, “There are only two genders”. He also pointedly asked why he was barred from practicing his First Amendment rights.
Although the meeting took place last month, the clip of the boy’s testimony began circulating on social media this week after being posted by the conservative Libs of TikTok Twitter account.
“Hello, good evening, my name is Liam Morrison,” the 12-year-old began. “I never thought the shirt I wore on March 21 would lead me to speak with you today. On that Tuesday morning, I was taken out of gym class to sit down with two adults for what turned out to be a very uncomfortable talk.”
“I was told that people were complaining about the words on my shirt, that my shirt was making some students 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 recounted how the adults informed him he would be required to change his shirt before being allowed back in class and how his father was called when he declined to do so. The boy was taken home from school by his “dad [who] supported my decisions.”
“What did my shirt say? Five simple words: ‘There are only two genders.’ Nothing harmful, nothing threatening. Just a statement I believe to be a fact. I have been told that my shirt was targeting a protected class. Who is this protected class? Are their feelings more important than my rights?”
READ: Florida approves expanded ban on LGBT indoctrination that includes all grade levels
As Catholics, we are taught that we must love our neighbour and treat every individual as a child of God, accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity.
Parents make a clear choice when they decide that their children will attend a Catholic school. They rightly expect that trustees, principals, teachers all partners in education will ensure that Catholic teaching is presented, lived and infused in all that we do. In that regard, the appropriate symbol that represents our faith, and the inclusion and acceptance of others, is the cross, which is visible at the entrance of every Catholic school. It is the primary symbol of our Christian faith.
We have created this petition to express opposition of flying the pride flag at schools for the month of June. Our kids should not be forced to celebrate anyones sexuality, and a flag will do nothing to keep anyone more safe. Its nothing more than a symbol of sexual celebration, completely inappropriate.
Catholicism and parental rights are being threatened, and we will not allow teachers who are LGBTQ to influence our children.
We are not homophobes. We are trying to shield our children from any sexual ideologies, both gay and straight. Children are minors who have a right to a normal and innocent childhood. We are not STAKEHOLDERS. We are parents. EQUITY is not and will never be the same as EQUALITY. Inclusion means EVERYONE and the York Region Catholic District School Board & its Union members are infringing upon our religious beliefs by suffocating our children with woke political agendas & indoctrinations when they should be focusing on educating our kids!
We love all humans equally. Hate is the wrong word to describe parents feelings about the climate in schools today. Parents protesting the pride flag at school do not harbour any negative feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. We do however feel that their rights seem to supersede everyone elses. We also believe that kids should never learn about sex at school and we condemn any classroom discussion or public display that encourages or promotes gender confusion and same sex lifestyles in a classroom setting. We also strongly condemn the nature of several library books that contain sensitive material on homosexuality and transgender issues in elementary school libraries. Similarly, we harbour no contempt for transgenders as individuals but their insistence on using female-only spaces is invasive.
The promotion of a pride sticker and the likelihood that a flag will go up in June at all schools suggests a particular political agenda, which warrants examination. Concern about alleged incidents of bullying directed at the LGBTQ community within schools has been raised. However when requesting specific information on the actual number of such reports, it was communicated that the data is currently confidential and not publicly available. Despite clarifying that only the number of incidents was desired, the same response was given.
The lack of transparency and information provided by the York Region Catholic District School Board concerning alleged incidents combined with these extreme campaigns using safe space stickers to promote political agendas, raises necessary questions about their motives. Despite facing opposition from relevant individuals, including the Archbishop of Toronto and Cardinal Collins, who have both explicitly expressed their disapproval of such displays, the union and its members have vehemently insisted the stickers remain.
We must stand up against this before the Board caves to the pressure of political correctness and decide to raise the pride flag too.
Please share this. We must get as many signatures as possible before May 20th so that we may present a united front at this months meeting with this petition in hand that will speak for itself and will represent all of us.
Thank you.
Sheree D
The boy stated that he doesn’t complain about the “pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school,” citing the reality that “others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.” He also said that he was never once confronted by any student or staff member who told him “they were bothered by what I was wearing.” Instead, “several kids told me that they supported my actions and that they wanted one, too.”
Despite being told that the shirt was “a disruption to learning,” Morrison refuted the claim by sharing that “no one got up and stormed out of class” or “burst into tears.” He pointed out that there are daily disruptions that go unaddressed, such as “kids acting out in class.”
“Why do the rules apply to one yet not another?” he wondered. “I feel like these adults were telling me that it wasn’t okay for me to have an opposing view…I know that I have a right to wear the shirt with those five words. Even at 12 years old I have my own political opinions, and I have a right to express those opinions, even at school. This right is called the First Amendment to the Constitution.”
“My hope in being here tonight is to bring the school committee’s attention to this issue,” the boy concluded. “I hope that you will speak up for the rest of us so we can express ourselves without being pulled out of class. Next time it may not only be me. There might be more students that decide to speak out.”
In recent years, public schools across the country have consistently promoted the LGBT agenda and exposed children to radical and explicit gender ideology. Earlier this year, LifeSiteNews reported that an already scandal-plagued school district in Wisconsin was planning to host a week-long session dedicated to indoctrinating students as young as 5 years old with the materials from an LGBT activist group.
Individual teachers have also been caught exposing children to sexually explicit material and ideas while also advocating for such interactions to be kept hidden from parents. Additionally, school districts have faced significant backlash for allowing “after school Satan clubs” to form and meet on school property.
Meanwhile, some children exposed to gender ideology or, like Morrison, made victims of suppression have shared their experiences to draw attention to the issues. In March, a viral video showed an 11-year-old boy reading aloud from a pornographic book at a school board meeting, exposing how easily young kids can access sexually explicit materials in school libraries.
RELATED: Major US school districts require parental consent for aspirin but not trans pronouns: report