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 鈥淴X鈥 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 鈥渟ilently express their opinion about the importance of reserving women鈥檚 sports for biological females,鈥 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.
鈥淭hey did so despite express warning that such conduct would not be tolerated on the school grounds,鈥 the district wrote. 鈥淭he school rightly curtailed such behavior and sanctioned the two men in a reasonable manner.鈥
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鈥檚 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 鈥淧rotect Women Sports for Female Athletes," according to the district.
Following the game, the two parents received 鈥淣o Trespass Orders鈥 banning them from school grounds and events, the lawsuit said. One was banned for a week, while Fellers was banned for the fall term.
鈥淧arents don鈥檛 shed their First Amendment rights at the entrance to a school鈥檚 soccer field. We wore pink wristbands to silently support our daughters and their right to fair competition,鈥 Fellers said in an earlier statement. 鈥淚nstead of fostering open dialogue, school officials responded with threats and bans that have a direct impact on our lives and our children鈥檚 lives.鈥