A school district in New Hampshire that tried to force its LGBT faith onto all parents and students is writing a huge payout check in order to settle a lawsuit over its officials’ decision to violate the First Amendment.
It is the Institute for Free Speech that confirmed the resolution involving a payout of $275,000 from the Bow School District.
The school had responded viciously to a silent protest by family members of a female soccer player to a male on the opposing team.
They wore “XX” wristbands.
They did not, according to reports, interrupt the game, harass the gender-confused player, cause a disturbance, do anything that could qualify as a disruption. They did not march, shout, chant or stage a pregame demonstration.
They wore wristbands.
School officials responded by having the referees halt the game, had a police officer confront the family, prevented the game from continuing until a family member removed the wristband, then followed up by issuing trespass orders barring family members from school grounds, meaning they were not allowed to attend the games in which their own children participated.
The First Amendment allows school to regulate speech if there is the danger of a “material disruption,” but there was a lack of such evidence in this dispute
The school ended up with an admission its officials “violated Plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights when it barred Plaintiffs from wearing the wristbands at the girls’ varsity soccer game on September 17, 2024.”
The Institute documented that officials had ordered the family to remove the wristbands or leave the game.
The settlement followed a federal court ruling that the First Amendment was on the side of the family. U.S. District Judge Steven J. McAuliffe entered the stipulated declaratory judgment on November 5, 2026 as part of a settlement ending Fellers, et al., v. Kelley, et al. The Institute brought the lawsuit on behalf of Kyle Fellers, Anthony “Andy” Foote, Nicole Foote, and Eldon Rash. The settlement also provides $275,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, the legal team confirmed.
‘XX’ wristband-wearing parents win free speech case, $275,000 in legal fees | Posted, The College Fix The New Hampshire high school parents who wore “XX” wristbands to protest boys participating in girls’ sports finally have won a declaratory judgment — along with $275,000 in attorney’s fees. Two years after Bow High School parents had the police called on them for wearing the wristbands and then losing in court a year later, the First Circuit Court of Appeals late this summer unanimously rebuked U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe who had ruled for the school district. Bow School District Superintendent Marcy Kelley had claimed the wristbands were “threatening, harassing, [and] intimidating,” Bow HS Principal Matt Fisk said they were “hateful” and as “anti-trans,” and the district’s lawyer referred to the them as “poison.” Judge McAuliffe declared the wristbands “can reasonably be understood as directly assaulting those who identify as transgender women.” Before the First Circuit, however, the Institute for Free Speech’s attorney told the judges “Your Honors, free speech is not poison.” Following the First Circuit’s remand of the case back to McAuliffe “for further proceedings” consistent with its opinion, the district and parents settled last week. … 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. The settlement also provides $275,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs. 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.” It binds the district and its Board of Education, and it remains in effect even if the district amends its policies. The ruling further notes that while the district may amend its policies and “issu[e] further implementing regulations,” the settlement “will remain in effect after any such amendment or issuance.” https://t.co/Yq1aBpCfRT
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) November 10, 2026
The left will do anything it can get away with to force its views on others. “New Hampshire’s Bow School District admitted it violated the First Amendment rights of parents and a grandparent when it “barred” them from wearing “XX” wristbands at the Sept. 17, 2024, contest that included male player Parker Tirrell and agreed Thursday to pay the plaintiffs $275,000 in legal fees to resolve their more than two-year-old litigation. “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,” the stipulated declaratory judgment and order of dismissal reads, prohibiting the district’s initial response to getting sued – creating a “protest zone” further away.”
— Vigilant Penguin (@JamesofPhillips) November 7, 2026
The Constitution provides the plaintiffs with the “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.”
A trial court judge had sided with the school, but soon was reversed by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
That ruling said school officials are not allowed to “favor one side of a debate involving parental speech on an issue of prominent public concern.”
Institute lawyer Endel “Del” Kolde said, “This judgment confirms that our clients had a First Amendment right to silently express their views on a major public issue even though school district officials disagreed with their views. We hope this victory will make other school officials think twice before silencing one side of a public debate.”
