“There’s case law dating all the way back to the 1960s and maybe even before that states very clearly from the Supreme Court that students don’t lose their right to free speech when they walk in the schoolhouse door. And that’s exactly what the school was trying to do here,” Whiting told the network.
“You know, Liam was trying to express his opinion on a topic that is controversial in our culture right now. It’s a political topic. A lot of people have different opinions on it. But they said that opinion, you know, is not authorized in school and so you’re not allowed to state it,” he added.
He went on to say that unless a student is causing a “material and substantial disruption in school” or they’re trying to advocate for an illegal activity like drug use, then students have the “right to express their political opinions- to express their beliefs on things like this.”
“And so, you know, here they’re trying to say that some students complained or were upset about Liam’s shirt. But the law is clear that other students being upset about something that you say doesn’t even come close to causing that kind of substantial disruption that would justify them clamping down on your free speech rights,” Whiting added.
The student said if someone had confronted him over the shirt’s message, he would have simply said, “They are entitled to their opinions just as I am.”
“If you have a different view and if they asked why I was wearing it, I’d say because I have a right to have a voice,” he explained.
He said he plans on wearing the shirt again on Friday and that he’s “ready” for what may come.
That said, Stoneman, Chandler & Miller LLP, the law firm representing the school, informed MFI and Morrison’s family Thursday afternoon that officials will continue to “prohibit the wearing of a t-shirt by Liam Morrison or anyone else which is likely to be considered discriminatory, harassing and/or bullying to others including those who are gender nonconforming by suggesting that their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression does not exist or is invalid.”