Regarding the controversy at a girls’ soccer game at Bow HS on 9/19/24, I am expressing my concern about banning a parent from attending future school activities. The parent, a retired veteran who served in the NH Guard as a helicopter pilot, was deployed multiple times while he had a family, including young children. While deployed, he didn’t have the privilege of attending his daughters’ school activities. He distributed pink armbands marked XX as a quiet expression of disagreement with a transgender boy playing on a girls’ team.
We want to thank Debra Blake for this Contribution. Submit yours to steve@granitegrok.com
As a former high school athlete at a time when girls had to fight for equal access to sports opportunities before Title IX, girls’ rights should not be eclipsed by boys identifying as girls.
The Bow Superintendent sent a letter to this parent, citing that the armband violates a school policy that states,” no person shall impede, delay, disrupt otherwise interfere with any school activity. “ I was in attendance that day, and at no time did anyone (including this parent) disrupt, delay, or impede the game.
How is wearing an armband as a form of freedom of expression to bring attention to a safety issue for his daughters disruptive? The BOW SD chose to ban this parent from ALL school activities without any attempt to resolve this issue. There is no justification for this parent to be banned from participating in his daughters’ school activities. This is an outrageous violation of this civil rights.
