Judge declines bid by New Hampshire parents to protest transgender players at school soccer games

Institute for Free Speech senior attorney Del Kolde speaks to reporters outside the U.S. District Court in Concord, N.H., Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nick Perry

CONCORD, N.H. — A federal judge on Tuesday declined to grant an immediate order sought by some New Hampshire parents to allow them to wear pink wristbands with “XX” on them at girls high school soccer games to protest transgender girls playing.

But the judge did rule that one father who had been banned by the school district for the rest of the season after a protest and altercation be allowed to watch his daughter’s games and pick her up from soccer practice so long as he didn’t engage in any protest activity.

Judge Steven McAuliffe said the notion of whether parents should be allowed to passively protest transgender players at student sports events was legally nuanced and complex, and he wanted to hear more detailed arguments presented by both the parents and the school district at the next hearing, which is likely to be held in late November.

The case arose after three parents and a grandparent of soccer players at Bow High School sued the school district, saying their rights were violated when they were barred from school grounds for wearing the wristbands, which represent the female chromosome pair.

Two of the parents wore the wristbands during the second half of a Sept. 17 match against Plymouth Regional High School to “silently express their opinion about the importance of reserving women’s sports for biological females,” according to their lawsuit filed by attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech.

But in its response, the Bow School District said that plaintiffs Andrew Foote and Kyle Fellers chose to direct their protest at a 15-year-old transgender player on a visiting team, as she and another teen challenge a New Hampshire ban in court.

“They did so despite express warning that such conduct would not be tolerated on the school grounds,” the district wrote. “The school rightly curtailed such behavior and sanctioned the two men in a reasonable manner.”

Del Kolde, a senior attorney with the Institute for Free Speech, said after Tuesday’s hearing that they had achieved some of what they had sought. He said he believed police bodycam footage that would likely be played at the November hearing would further support his clients version of events.

The district declined to comment immediately after the hearing.

The lawsuit said school officials and a local police officer confronted the parents during the game, telling them to remove the wristbands or leave. The plaintiffs refused, citing their First Amendment rights, then said they were threatened with arrest for trespassing.

At one point, the referee stopped the game and said that Bow High School would forfeit if the plaintiffs did not remove their wristbands, the lawsuit said. The wristbands were removed and the game resumed.

During Tuesday’s court hearing, Kolde acknowledged Fellers had called school officials Nazis, but said he was entitled to do so and that officials had retaliated against him.

Fellers also held up a handmade sign saying “Protect Women Sports for Female Athletes,” according to the district.

Following the game, the two parents received “No Trespass Orders” banning them from school grounds and events, the lawsuit said. One was banned for a week, while Fellers was banned for the fall term.

“Parents don’t shed their First Amendment rights at the entrance to a school’s soccer field. We wore pink wristbands to silently support our daughters and their right to fair competition,” Fellers said in an earlier statement. “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.”