The Institute for Free Speech, which litigated the case, reports on the settlement agreement:
Take off the wristbands or leave.
asserted
which → litigate → wristbands
That was the message Bow school officials gave parents and a grandfather who were silently protesting in support of female-only sports by wearing pink "XX" wristbands at a girls' high school soccer game in 2024….
asserted
who → give → 2024
After more than two years of litigation …, the Bow School District has agreed to a judgment declaring that it violated the plaintiffs' rights by barring them from wearing the wristbands at the game.
asserted
it → agree → game
The settlement also provides $275,000 in attorneys' fees and costs.
asserted
settlement → provide → fees
The judgment declares that the plaintiffs "have a First Amendment right to silently wear pink wristbands bearing the XX symbol on the sidelines, in the spectator's area, or in the parking lot of any Bow District sporting event."
asserted
plaintiffs → declare → event
It binds the district and its Board of Education, and it remains in effect even if the district amends its policies….
asserted
district → bind → policies
The plaintiffs wore the wristbands, whose "XX" symbols reference female chromosome structure, to protest a policy permitting a biological male to compete on the opposing girls' team.
asserted
symbols → wear → team
School officials, accompanied by a police officer, confronted them.
asserted
officials → accompany → them
The referee halted play until one spectator removed his wristband, and school officials later issued trespass orders barring Fellers and Andy Foote from school grounds, preventing them from attending their children's games and other school activities for a time….
asserted
officials → halt → time
After the district court denied a preliminary injunction in April 2025, the plaintiffs appealed.
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plaintiffs → deny → April
In August 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled in the plaintiffs' favor, finding that they "have established a likelihood of success as to their viewpoint discrimination claim."
uncertain
they → rule → claim
The court concluded that the protest "fell short of harassment and disruption," and that school officials "cannot favor one side of a debate involving parental speech on an issue of prominent public concern."
asserted
officials → conclude → concern
…
Here's my August post excerpting the First Circuit's opinion, written by First Circuit Judge Sandra Lynch, joined by Judge Jeffrey Howard:
On September 17, 2024, [plaintiffs] were instructed by Bow High School officials to remove pink "XX" wristbands they wore in protest while watching their daughters (in [one plaintiff's] case, granddaughter) play in a girls' soccer game against a team with one transgender athlete.
asserted
daughters → excerpt → athlete
Further sanctions followed….
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sanctions → follow → ?
[W]e conclude that appellants have established a likelihood of success as to their viewpoint discrimination claim arising from the sanctions imposed on them for their passive speech in wearing these wristbands…
uncertain
appellants → conclude → wristbands
The district court analyzed the school playing fields and adjacent parking lot, as appellants requested, under the mode of First Amendment law applicable to limited public fora as to impermissible viewpoint discrimination….
asserted
appellants → analyze → discrimination
[The] appellee school district argues that this case must be analyzed more in the mode of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) … [and other cases that] recognize the particular interests inherent in the public elementary and high school settings, and the necessary discretion given to public school administrators in the difficult job of running public schools…
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that → argue → schools
Neither of those two different classic modes of First Amendment analysis, urged on by these opposing parties, is a perfect fit for this public high school speech case, and we note that the Supreme Court has not addressed this precise question.
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Court → urge → question
We need not and do not reach the complex question of which (or whether) either of these alternate modes is the appropriate First Amendment type of analytical model for the facts of record here.
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either → need → record
We conclude that on these facts the differences in analysis would not affect the outcome here…
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differences → conclude → outcome
The school's legitimate interest in regulating certain kinds of speech on the playing field sidelines … is not demonstrated by the evidence in this record.
asserted
interest → regulate → record
There is no evidence that appellants' protest caused a material disruption [which would be relevant under Tinker].
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which → be → Tinker
There was no disruption until school officials chose to intervene, after which the referee suspended the game for approximately fifteen minutes and the school officials chose to impose restrictions on appellants' speech and impose sanctions.
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officials → be → sanctions
The appellants did not stage any pregame demonstrations; did not march, shout, chant, or otherwise disrupt the game; and did not confront Tirrell or any other player.
asserted
appellants → stage → Tirrell
Instead, they waited until halftime before donning the "XX" wristbands in a passive, silent gesture of protest.
asserted
they → wait → protest
There is also no evidence of harassment, given there is no evidence in the record that any player actually saw the wristbands.
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player → be → wristbands
The lack of any evidence demonstrating harassment also defeats the school district's argument that it had an affirmative duty under Title IX to protect students from the speech in which appellants engaged….
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appellants → demonstrate → which
While it is true that appellants chose to protest at the September 17 game because of Tirrell being a player, the record does not contain evidence of appellants engaging in harassment before or during the game.
asserted
appellants → choose → game
To the contrary, appellants did not shout, chant, make threats, or aggressively gesture at Tirrell to communicate their views against her participation.
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appellants → shout → participation
Nor is there evidence that Tirrell or any other player even saw the wristbands or "subjectively perceived the environment to be hostile or abusive."
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environment → see → wristbands
Principal Fisk did note the challenges that transgender students face generally.
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students → note → that
But Fisk did not ever explain how appellants' display of the "XX" symbol constituted sufficiently severe or pervasive conduct to qualify as harassment under Title IX.
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display → explain → IX
And to the extent the district court concluded that the silent wearing of "XX" wristbands on the sidelines of a school soccer field, without more, always amounts to harassing speech, we disagree.
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we → conclude → speech
The school district responds that it may make "predictive judgment[s]" to proactively prohibit conduct that it believes will eventually lead to an actionable Title IX claim…..
uncertain
it → respond → claim
We agree with the general proposition.
asserted
We → agree → proposition
But the argument fails on the facts of this record….
asserted
argument → fail → record
We need not decide in this appeal whether and under what circumstances passive speech, on other facts, consisting of displaying the "XX" symbol on school property during school events could be reasonably thought to be harassing.
uncertain
speech → decide → events
But appellants' silent display of the "XX" symbol at the September 17 game fell short of harassment and disruption, and we conclude that the district court erred in holding that the school's interest in prevention of harassment justified the prohibition.
asserted
interest → fall → prohibition
While it is a closer issue, we conclude that the school district likely was not justified in sanctioning the appellants for their passive speech based on its concerns derived from the earlier exchanges with the appellants and other parents.
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district → conclude → appellants
None of appellants' reported discussions, including their possible different methods of protest reported to Bow High School officials by other parents, led to any attempt to "heckle and intimidate" Tirrell.
asserted
None → report → Tirrell
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
