A New Hampshire school district that banned two fathers from school grounds after they wore pink "XX" wristbands opposing transgender participation in girls' sports has agreed to a federal court judgment declaring it violated the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights.
asserted
it → ban → rights
The resolution, approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe, ends more than two years of litigation and requires the district’s risk pool to pay $275,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
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resolution → approve → fees
The judgment protects the four plaintiffs’ right to silently wear the wristbands along the sidelines, in spectator areas and in parking lots at any Bow School District sporting event.
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judgment → protect → event
It expressly declares that the district violated their constitutional rights when it barred the wristbands at a Sept. 17, 2024, girls varsity soccer game.
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it → declare → game
"It took more than two years, but the court has recognized that what happened to us was wrong," plaintiff Kyle Fellers said in a statement reported by The Associated Press.
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Fellers → take → Press
Fellers said the ban kept him from attending half of his daughter’s soccer games during her senior year.
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ban → say → year
The case grew out of a game between Bow High School and Plymouth Regional High School, whose girls team included transgender player Parker Tirrell.
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team → grow → Tirrell
The wristbands’ "XX" symbols referenced female chromosomes and expressed opposition to allowing biological males to compete in girls' sports.
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males → reference → sports
School officials, accompanied by a police officer, confronted spectators over the wristbands.
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officials → accompany → wristbands
The confrontation escalated, the referee halted play and Fellers and Anthony "Andy" Foote subsequently received no-trespass orders.
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Fellers → escalate → orders
Fox News Digital previously reported on Foote’s ban after he wore the wristband to his daughter’s game.
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he → report → game
Fellers, Foote, Nicole Foote and grandfather Eldon Rash brought the lawsuit with representation from the Institute for Free Speech and local attorney Richard J. Lehmann.
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Fellers → bring → Speech
Under the settlement, Primex, the district’s risk pool, will pay $225,000 to the institute and $50,000 to Lehmann Major List PLLC.
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Primex → pay → PLLC
Each plaintiff will receive an additional $17.91, an amount the institute said symbolizes 1791, when the First Amendment was ratified.
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Amendment → receive → 1791
School officials had defended their response as an effort to protect students from harassment.
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officials → defend → harassment
Before the game, officials received reports about possible heckling and communications they believed suggested the protest could escalate.
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protest → receive → heckling
The fathers testified that they did not intend to harass or target the player.
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they → testify → player
The parents initially suffered a setback when McAuliffe denied their request for a preliminary injunction in April 2025.
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McAuliffe → suffer → April
But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Aug. 26 that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim of viewpoint discrimination and sent the case back for further proceedings.
The appeals court found no evidence the silent protest caused a material disruption before school officials intervened.
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officials → conclude → disruption
It also found no evidence that any player actually saw the wristbands.
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player → find → wristbands
The plaintiffs "did not march, shout, chant, or otherwise disrupt the game," the court wrote, concluding their conduct "fell short of harassment and disruption."
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conduct → march → harassment
The panel also pointed to administrators’ descriptions of the message as exclusionary or hateful as evidence that officials likely punished the spectators because they disagreed with their views.
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they → point → views
Thursday’s resolution is a stipulated judgment agreed to by the parties.
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resolution → stipulate → parties
The settlement contains a provision denying wrongdoing except as expressly established in the judgment, which declares the district’s wristband ban unconstitutional.
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ban → contain → judgment
The judgment binds the district, its Board of Education and their successors.
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judgment → bind → Education
It remains effective even if the district revises its conduct policies or athletics handbook, and the court retains authority to enforce it and the settlement.
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court → remain → it
The Associated Press reported that an attorney for the district did not respond to its request for comment.
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attorney → report → comment
The Institute for Free Speech said the order arrived in time for a Bow girls varsity soccer playoff game scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6.
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order → say → Friday
The Aporia
