Who’d have guessed a silent protest would lead to a booming legal uproar?

In September 2024, parents Anthony and Nicole Foote, Kyle Fellers, and Eldon Rash took a stand at a girls’ high school soccer game in Bow, New Hampshire. Donning pink wristbands emblazoned with “XX” — in reference to the chromosomes of biological females — they silently protested the inclusion of transgender-identifying athletes in girls’ sports. Their demonstration was met with swift action from Bow and Dunbarton School District's Superintendent Marcy Kelley, who issued a no-trespass order, barring the parents from further protests. Citing a violation of their First Amendment rights, the parents filed a lawsuit against the school district.

Although the no-trespass order has since expired, the parents sought a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe in February 2025, requesting permission to continue displaying signs and wearing the wristbands at school events. On Monday, McAuliffe ruled in favor of the school district, upholding the ban on such protests on school grounds. He argued that the district’s decision was justified to prevent potentially harmful messaging.

McAuliffe wrote in his ruling: “While plaintiffs may very well have never intended to communicate a demeaning or harassing message directed at Parker Tirrell or any other transgender students, the symbols and posters they displayed were fully capable of conveying such a message. And, that broader messaging is what the school authorities reasonably understood and appropriately tried to prevent.” He added, “The broader and more demeaning/harassing message the School District understood plaintiffs’ ‘XX’ symbols to convey was, in context, entirely reasonable.”

According to Fox News, “McAuliffe said the parents’ ‘narrow, plausibly inoffensive’ intentions were not as important as the wider context, and that adults attending a high school athletic event do not enjoy a First Amendment-protected right to convey messages that demean, harass or harm students.” The outlet noted that, “After the ruling was issued, the plaintiffs filed a notice saying they do not intend to enter more evidence before the judge makes a final decision.”

Del Kolde, senior attorney for the Institute for Free Speech and attorney for one of the parents, couldn’t believe it. “This was adult speech in a limited public forum,” he emphasized, “which enjoys greater First Amendment protection than student speech in the classroom. Bow School District officials were obviously discriminating based on viewpoint because they perceived the XX wristbands to be ‘trans-exclusionary.’”

This development in New Hampshire appears to be only the latest in a multi-year fight to keep men out of women’s sports. In fact, shortly after beginning his second term, President Donald Trump signed the executive order, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” in order to protect female student athletes from being forced “to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.”

“In recent years,” the order reads, “many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.” For any school that refused to comply, President Trump warned they would lose federal funding. Public schools in Maine are facing this reality presently.

Per Washington Stand reporting, “The Department of Education announced last Friday that it had initiated an administrative proceeding to terminate all K-12 funding to the Maine Department of Education, ‘including formula and discretionary grants,’ over Title IX violations by allowing males who identify as female to compete against and change in front of girls.” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press conference on Wednesday that “we don’t like standing up here and filing lawsuits. We want to get states to comply with us.” However, she later added, “We’re looking at many, many states” now. And cases across the U.S. are not only igniting federal legal action, but local battles as well.

Penny Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women for America (CWA), brought the conversation back to the parents in New Hampshire. “Concerned Women for America strongly supports Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote, who stood for fairness in girls’ sports by wearing pink ‘XX’ wristbands at games,” she told The Washington Stand. “We wholeheartedly disagree with Judge Steven McAuliffe’s decision to suppress their free speech. This ruling undermines the safety and opportunities of female athletes and disregards the concerns of parents protecting their daughters.”

When it comes to protecting women and girls, Nance emphasized that “the vast majority of Americans oppose men competing in women’s sports, and this decision will backfire, galvanizing more people to speak out against these unfair policies.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Hal Frampton also weighed in, sharing with TWS, “Sports teach young athletes important values, including teamwork, discipline, and perseverance. That’s why we’re representing female athletes who want to help defend New Hampshire’s law protecting the integrity of women’s sports.” As Frampton went on to say, “We’re disappointed that a court has ruled against two New Hampshire dads’ First Amendment right to wear respectful armbands promoting fair competition for their daughters. Every dad has the right to speak up to protect his daughter.”

In conjunction with many others, both CWA and ADF reaffirmed their commitment to defending fairness in women’s sports, declaring they “will continue to stand up for parents’ rights to protect their children and women’s rights to a level playing field.”