The Supreme Court rejected a legal battle from a student who was punished for wearing a shirt stating that only two genders exist.

The student, identified as L.M. in court papers, was in seventh grade in 2023 when he wore the shirt at a time when school officials taught gender identity, presenting it as a choice unrelated to biology.

L.M. said students were encouraged to wear rainbows but he opted to wear his T-shirt that stated, “There are only two genders.”

His school, Nichols Middle School in Middleborough, Massachusetts, required him to remove the shirt or else miss class that day. He refused and opted to miss class. Officials reasoned that the shirt targeted a protected class of students.

The lower court sided with the school, saying the shirt could cause a disruption.

L.M. had asked the justices to review his appeal on First Amendment grounds. It would have taken four justices to vote in favor of hearing his appeal for it to be granted.

Without comment, the court declined to take it up.

But Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying they thought the court should revisit the legal dispute.

Justice Alito said the justices should reaffirm that a school can’t engage in viewpoint discrimination.

“This case makes clear, some lower courts are confused on how to manage the tension between students’ rights and schools’ obligations. Our Nation’s students, teachers, and administrators deserve clarity on this critically important question,” Justice Alito wrote.

David Cortman, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented L.M., expressed disappointment the justices refused to hear the free speech case.

“Here, the school actively promotes its view about gender through posters and ’Pride’ events, and it encourages students to wear clothing with messages on the same topic — so long as that clothing expresses the school’s preferred views on the subject. Our legal system is built on the truth that the government cannot silence any speaker just because it disapproves of what they say. Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to defend the rights of students to speak freely on important issues of the day without government censorship,” Mr. Cortman said.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.