A New Hampshire teen is suing his district for allegedly being suspended for saying that there are only two genders.
The freshman is said to have faced suspension from athletics class at Exeter High School back in September after he said that there are “only two genders” in a text conversation with another student.
Reportedly, the conversation took place away from school grounds, and the boy said that he was suspended from a game of football as a consequence.
The teen and his mother filed a lawsuit through Cornerstone Action, a Christian advocacy organization, on November 4.
According to the lawsuit, the boy had his constitutional right to free speech, which was violated through the suspension, as per Portsmouth Herald.
Also, it suggested he had been punished for his religious beliefs.
They are now seeking damages against EHS Assistant Principal Marcy Dovholuk and SAU 16.
In addition, the school district may now even be prohibited from implementing its policy concerning students who are not gender-conforming.
According to Cornerstone, children who have religious beliefs and don’t want to use made-up pronouns are punished unjustly.
The lawsuit states:
[The student] does not deny that he violated the Gender Nonconforming Students policy. He in fact denied, and will continue to deny, that any person can belong to a gender other than that of ‘male’ or ‘female’.
[The student] will never refer to any individual person using plural pronouns such as ‘they,’ using contrived pronouns such as ‘ze,’ or with any similar terminology that reflects values which [the student] does not share.
However, according to the school’s policy, “a student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to the student’s gender identity” and children who do not follow these rules will be in “violation” of them.
It was revealed that a discussion on the bus after a Spanish lesson about third-person pronouns resulted in the texts being sent by the student after he exited the vehicle.
Cornerstone stated:
Regardless of what defendants may think about these words, (the student now suing the school) did not use profane or insulting language towards any person while in the school building, on a school bus, during school activities, or on school property in any of the events leading up to his athletic suspension and this case.
SAU 16 Superintendent David Ryan said that the complaint was in the process of being reviewed “with legal counsel” and that further details on the situation will be shared upon completion of the review.
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