The debate about whether the right to express oneself freely or hurt someone’s feelings is more important is back on the table in the United States after learning the story of Liam Morrison, a 12-year-old boy from Massachusetts.
The young man was expelled from class at Nichols College in Middleborough for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “there are only two genders”.
The Physical Education teachers urged him to change his clothes if he wanted to continue in class, since that message could make a classmate uncomfortable.
Four days ago, media such as Fox News or the Daily Mail picked up a video from the school in which the boy explained what happened. He was not filed, he was simply asked to look out for coexistence with the other students, since the shirt could “make others feel insecure.”
In that video, Morrison explains that “none of my teammates came to complain personally” about what he put on the shirt.
In addition, the little boy launched a question that left the entire faculty silent: “Are your feelings more important than my right to freedom of expression?”
To emphasize this idea, his speech focused on the fact that “he respects the flags or symbols” associated with the LGTBI collective, and he had never complained. “I think we all deserve to express ourselves,” he added.
“Luckily, my father, who supports my decisions, came looking for me. What did my shirt say? Five simple words: there are only two genders. Nothing harmful. Nothing threatening. Just a statement that I think is a fact,” Morrison concluded.
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