L.M. was a seventh-grade student at a Massachusetts public middle school. He wore a shirt stating “There Are Only Two Genders” because he wanted to express his views about sex and gender. School officials told him he could not attend class while wearing it. He later wore a modified shirt reading “There Are CENSORED Genders,” and the school prohibited that shirt too.

L.M. argued that the shirts were protected First Amendment expression and that the school was discriminating against his viewpoint while allowing messages supporting other views about gender. The school argued that the messages could invade the rights of other students and interfere with a safe, inclusive learning environment. The First Circuit ruled for the school.

L.M. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. On May 27, 2025, the Court denied his petition. A denial of certiorari is not a decision on the merits and does not mean that the Supreme Court agreed with the First Circuit. Justices Thomas and Alito dissented from the denial. They argued that the case raised an important student-speech question and that the lower court had departed from Tinker by allowing speech to be suppressed without a sufficient showing of material disruption or invasion of others’ rights.

The most important point is procedural: this Supreme Court action left the First Circuit’s judgment in place but did not establish a new nationwide rule about student speech concerning gender.