A second father has been slapped with a no trespass order by Bow High School for wearing a pink armband on behalf of girls-only sports — and not just for a few days, but for the rest of this season.
Kyle Fellers says he wore a pink armband at his daughter’s soccer game last week, not as a statement of opposition, but as a show of support for female athletics. But because his daughter’s Bow High School team was playing a team with a biological male on the roster, Fellers has been banned from attending any more school sports events — or events of any kind — until the end of the fall sports season.
“You are prohibited from attending any Bow School District athletic or extra-curricular event, on or off school grounds,” the order reads. “This NO TRESPASS order will remain in effect for the remainder of the fall sports season. If you are found on District property in violation of this order you will be arrested and prosecuted for Criminal Trespass under New Hampshire law.”
The order echoes one issued to Anthony Foote, who also wore a pink armband while watching his daughter play when Bow faced off against Plymouth Regional High School on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Except Foote’s order only extends through Sept. 23, not the rest of the fall sports season.
Both Fellers and Foote acknowledge they oppose having biological males competing in girls high school sports, a position held by a majority of Granite Staters according to polling, and say they wore the pink armbands as a symbol of their views. But they reject the claim they engaged in any “protest” and say claims from the school that they participated in disruptive or harassing behavior are absolutely false.
“I was there to support the girls. I don’t even know where they come up with the term ‘protest.’ I wanted to show my support for girls as athletes, and for their rights to compete. In my opinion, I honestly believe what they’re doing will destroy girls sport,” Feller said.
The no trespass order, signed by Superintendent of Schools Marcy Kelley, claims “the District had to obtain additional police presence to ensure order” and that his “protest” forced play to stop.
“This protest was designed to and had the effect of intimidating, threatening, harassing and discouraging [the biologically male] student as well as any other students from playing.”
But multiple videos of the game show a small crowd of people uneventfully watching the game until Athletic Director Mike Desilets and other school officials began demanding those wearing the armbands remove them. There was no chanting or shouting or sign waving or any other form or protest on the sidelines.
“About 15 minutes into the second quarter, the athletic director came up behind me and sort of whispered in my ear that protests weren’t allowed and I had to remove my wristband. At first I thought he was joking,” Fellers told NHJournal.
“But he kept coming back to me and telling me to take it off. I said I had free speech rights. He brought a police officer over, and he told me I didn’t have free speech rights because I was on private property. If you listen to one of the videos, I think you can hear someone yell, ‘It’s a public high school!'”
According to Fellers and multiple witnesses, he took the pink wristband off. But others in the crowd put them on and refused to remove them. The confrontations, led by school officials and police, eventually caught the attention of the referees, who then halted the game and sent the players to their benches.
Fellers said he decided to leave the sidelines, hoping that would lower the temperature and let the game continue. He says he watched the rest of the game from his car and, when it was over, he stood outside it holding a sign reading “Protect women’s sports for female athletes” as the crowd headed home.
“One of the referees was parked near me and, as he got in his car, he called me a ‘f***ing a**hole,'” Fellers said. “So I guess he still had his free speech rights.”
Videos and photos of the Bow High School soccer game on Sept. 17 show there were no protests or disruptions on the sidelines.
In the no trespass order, Kelley claimed “police intervention was required as a result of [his] actions.”
She declined to respond to a request for comment from NHJournal other than to send the same statement the school district released to the public on Thursday.
The issue of biological males in girls sports is a contested one in New Hampshire. A federal judge recently blocked enforcement of the state’s new law banning males from competing on female sports teams from the 5th through 12th grades. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has joined a national effort urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the right of states to pass those laws.
But for Fellers, Foote, and several Bow residents who spoke to NHJournal, the real issue is the right to express an opinion about the issue.
“The core of this issue is freedom of speech,” said one attendee who wore an armband and asked to speak on background out of concern over retaliation against family members by the school district.
“After I read that superintendent’s [no trespass] order, which was bizarre, I said, ‘Oh, they’re shutting down one side of the debate.’ That’s the core issue. The idea of having men in women’s sports is one we should be able to discuss. But they don’t believe in discussion.”
It’s an attitude that may cost the Bow School District and local taxpayers in the end. Both Fellers and Foote confirmed they have spoken to attorneys about the incident. Several national organizations known for taking cases involving the First Amendment are reportedly looking into the case.
On social media, several national legal scholars also said the school district is likely on thin legal ice.
“Um, the Supreme Court said this was a First Amendment violation over 50 years ago in the context of black armbands/Vietnam. (Tinker v Des Moines),” wrote Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute.
Attorney Harmeet Dhillon with the Center for American Liberty called it a “blatant First Amendment violation.”
Meanwhile, Fellers has to figure out how, as a single dad with two kids, he’s going to get them to and from sports and extracurricular activities. “We’ll have to work something out, but I’m not sure what.”
