This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
The day before the Bow girls’ soccer team plays in the state championship, several parents settled their free speech lawsuit against the school district and will be allowed to wear “XX” armbands on the sidelines Friday night.
The federal court ruled the district violated the parents’ rights when they were expelled from a girls’ soccer game in 2024 after they refused to remove their pink wristbands, which they wore in protest of transgender athletes playing female sports. The “XX” symbol represents the sex chromosomes assigned to females at birth.
Even though the opposing team had a transgender player, the “Bow School District violated Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights when it barred plaintiffs from wearing the wristbands at the girls’ varsity soccer game on September 17, 2024,” wrote U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe in his order.
“It took more than two years, but the court has recognized that what happened to us was wrong,” parent Kyle Fellers said in a statement. “This was never just about sports. It’s about every parent’s right to peacefully express views without being punished for it.”
Initially, McAuliffe ruled that the Bow school district and Superintendent Marcy Kelley acted reasonably in their decision to prevent Fellers and Anthony Foote from wearing the wristbands.
Yet in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said McAuliffe erred in his ruling and said the display of the wristbands at the game “fell short of harassment and disruption.”
The parents were represented by attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech. A settlement agreement also provides $275,000 for the parents’ attorneys’ fees and costs. On top of paying attorney fees, the school district’s insurer will pay both parents $17.91.
Fellers said he wore the wristbands to his daughter’s soccer game to stand up for his beliefs. The game was between Plymouth Regional High School and Bow High School’s girls’ soccer team.
School officials called the police during the game, who threatened Fellers and Foote with arrest. Days later, the two parents were ordered to stay off school property, preventing them from watching their daughters’ games. The Bow Police Department was initially named as a defendant in the suit, but was later dropped.
In an earlier court filing, the parents said they intend to wear the wristbands again if the court issues an order protecting their rights. Foote’s younger daughter is a student at Bow High School, where she plays girls’ soccer, basketball and lacrosse. The soccer team will play in the Division II state championship in Exeter on Friday night against Hollis-Brookline High School.
Parents in Bow and elsewhere have the right to silently wear wristbands on the sidelines in the future, the court ruled.
“This judgment confirms that our clients had a First Amendment right to silently express their views on a major public issue even though school district officials disagreed with their views,” said Endel Kolde, a senior attorney from the Institute for Free Speech. “We hope this victory will make other school officials think twice before silencing one side of a public debate.”
