New Hampshire parents sue school district for banning them over 'silent protest' against trans soccer player
A group of New Hampshire parents and a grandparent filed a lawsuit against a school district on Monday over their removal from a girls soccer game for holding a protest against a transgender player.
Kyle Fellers, Anthony Foote, Nicole Foote and Eldon Rash filed the federal lawsuit against the Bow School District, Superintendent of Schools Marcy Kelley, Principal Matt Fisk, Athletic Director Mike Desilets, Bow Police Lieutenant Phil Lamy and soccer referee Steve Rossetti.
The lawsuit says Fellers and Anthony Foote were banned from a Sept. 17 girls soccer game between Bow High School and Plymouth Regional High School in which they were wearing pink wristbands with "XX" displayed to symbolize the female chromosome structure and express their support for biological female athletes.
The "silent protest" at Bow High School, the lawsuit says, intended to "show solidarity" with the Bow team and oppose a policy that allowed a transgender girl to play on Plymouth's team.
Bow school officials and a police officer confronted the plaintiffs during the game and instructed them to remove the wristbands, the lawsuit says. But when the plaintiffs refused to remove them, a referee allegedly paused the game and said Bow would be forced to forfeit the game if the wristbands were not removed.
Fellers and Anthony Foote were given "No Trespass Orders" banning them from school grounds and events after the incident, which included barring them picking their children up from after-school practices. Anthony Foote was banned until September 23, while Fellers was prohibited from returning for the remainder of the fall term.
"Parents don’t shed their First Amendment rights at the entrance to a school’s soccer field," Fellers said in a statement. "We wore pink wristbands to silently support our daughters and their right to fair competition. Instead of fostering open dialogue, school officials responded with threats and bans that have a direct impact on our lives and our children’s lives. And this fight isn’t just about sports—it’s about protecting our fundamental right to free speech."
The lawsuit seeks to prevent the "unconstitutional application" of several school policies, including those that require "mutual respect, civility, and orderly conduct" and that prohibit actions that "injure, threaten, harass, or intimidate" or "impede, delay, disrupt, or otherwise interfere with any school activity or function."
The plaintiffs asked the court to enjoin the school from using these policies to restrict non-disruptive expression of political or social views at school events, including silently wearing wristbands or displaying signs in the parking lot in opposition to allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' sports teams.
"The idea that I would be censored and threatened with removal from a public event for standing by my convictions is not just a personal affront—it is an infringement on the very rights I swore to defend," Anthony Foote said. "I spent 31 years in the United States Army, including three combat tours, and the school district in the town I was born in—the one my family has seven generations of history in—took away those rights. I sometimes wonder if I should have been here, fighting for our rights, rather than overseas."
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Earlier this month, a federal judge temporarily blocked a New Hampshire law prohibiting transgender females from playing on sports teams based on their preferred gender identity.