What's Massachusetts Family Institute? Why it backs Middleboro boy in free speech fight

MIDDLEBORO — On March 21, Liam Morrison, a 12-year-old seventh grader at Nichols Middle School in Middleboro was asked by school officials to change out of a T-shirt that read “there are only two genders.”

Morrison declined to change and was sent home.

On May 5, after his family hired a lawyer to possibly file a lawsuit against the school, Morrison covered part of the message on his T-shirt with white tape and wrote "censored," so the shirt said, "there are censored genders."

He was sent home for a second time, but the story didn't end there.

Morrison's family, who took the case to court, is represented by the non-profit advocacy group Massachusetts Family Institute — as well as a national group, Alliance Defending Freedom. Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) said, if need be, they will appeal the case all the way up to the United States Supreme Court.

So who is the Massachusetts Family Institute? We talked with Sam Whiting, the MFI lawyer representing Morrison, to find out.

Liam Morrison v. Middleboro School Committee

After a months-long legal battle, Morrison's case has made its way to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit — continuing a complex and highly contentious national debate on free speech and hate speech.

"I was told that people were complaining about the words on my shirt, that the shirt was making some students feel unsafe," Morrison told the Middleboro School Committee at an April 13 meeting, just two days after Morrison’s attorneys decided to sue the school and town.

“I feel like these adults were telling me that it wasn’t okay to have an opposing view.”

The school district, on the other hand, said Morrison broke their dress code, which states “clothing must not state, imply, or depict hate speech or imagery that targets groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or any other classification.”

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Who is the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI)?

The MFI, founded in 1991, describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization that engages in research and education around hotly debated topics, including religious liberty, free speech, and parental rights regarding the education of their children, as well as supporting pro-life policies and marriage between a man and a woman.

“Our mission is to strengthen families in Massachusetts and the Judeo-Christian values on which they’re based,” said Sam Whiting, the MFI lawyer representing Morrison. “We do a lot of advocacy, education and policy work, but more recently we’ve been providing legal support to people whose rights are being violated here in Massachusetts when it aligns with our mission’s focus.”

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What other cases has MFI been involved in?

• Earlier this year, MFI got involved in a situation in support of "Pastor Story Hour" at the Chelmsford Public Library. The library canceled the event, claiming it violated a policy stating proselytizing was not allowed. MFI, in support of the event, claimed the library's policy could be viewed as anti-religious discrimination. The library relented, allowing the pastor to read the books "God Made Boys and Girls: Helping Children Understand the Gift of Gender" and "Jesus and My Gender."

• Last year, MFI also got involved in a case against Ludlow Public Schools after the parents of an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old claimed the school encouraged their children's gender transition without informing the parents. The district court ultimately ruled against the parents, halting the lawsuit in December of 2022.

• In 2016, MFI was actively involved in repealing the bathroom bill, a law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker that would require businesses, fitness centers and homeless shelters to allow transgender women into women's bathrooms, locker rooms and sleeping areas. Their campaign, titled "keep Massachusetts safe" was ultimately unsuccessful.

How does the MFI choose which cases to take?

“We take the cases that we think we can win, and we also take the cases that we feel like we can't afford to lose,” said Whiting.

“We as an organization have convictions about human sexuality that are biblically based. We believe that God created sexuality to be enjoyed within the context of a male and female marriage.”

Why did MFI take Liam Morrison's case?

“With Liam's case, we really believe that we can win because we believe that this was an egregious violation of human rights. Every kid has the right to speak in public school on these types of important matters of public debate and concern, as long as they're not disrupting the learning environment,” he said. “He was censored for his willingness to speak what we believe is the truth about gender and sex differences, so we had to step in to defend his right to speak the truth on this issue.”

How did MFI get involved in the case?

The MFI is providing local counsel to Morrison, acting as co-counsel to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a nationwide legal organization which is also representing Morrison in court.

On MFI's website they call the Alliance Defending Freedom a "national Christian legal ministry."

"Our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom, a national Christian legal ministry, have put together a fantastic resource for students and parents on how to address challenges to religious freedom and free speech in public schools," MFI's website says.

According to Whiting, the MFI was the first to speak with Morrison and his parents after they were referred to the organization through another local advocate in the Middleboro area.

“After speaking with him, we realized this had the potential to be a significant legal issue,” Whiting said.

On April 27, the MFI sent a demand letter to the school, attempting to resolve the issue without litigation.

“I think that would have saved everybody a lot of time and expense, but unfortunately, it didn't happen,” Whiting said.

That’s when the MFI reached out to ADF to get involved.

“We’re allied attorneys with the ADF, which really just means that we’re a part of their network,” said Whiting. “We’re allies with them, but we don’t work for them.”

Who’s paying Liam Morrison’s legal fees?

The MFI and ADF are both working pro-bono — or free of charge — for Morrison and his family.

According to Whiting, MFI runs on donations from people who believe in their mission and wish to see them succeed in Massachusetts.

“A lot of the people who donate are on our board, but we also get generous donations from many people outside of it. We also get some corporate sponsorships,” said Whiting, who declined to provide specifics.

While Whiting didn’t provide a dollar figure, he did say the case has been an expensive endeavor.

“If we win, the school will be liable to pay our legal fees, the fees of the attorneys who are representing Liam,” he said. “But certainly, it’s not inexpensive.”

What’s the current status of the case?

The United States District Court of Massachusetts ruled on June 16 against Morrison's request for a preliminary injunction that would have forbidden the school from banning his T-shirt while the case is pending.

Then in July, both sides agreed to ask the court to convert that preliminary ruling into a final judgment against Morrison — thus paving the way for an appeal to a higher court.

“We agreed on both sides of the case that additional process wouldn’t be necessary because there really aren't disputed facts. Everyone agreed there wasn’t a disruption,” said Whiting. “But their argument is, even if there wasn’t a disruption, it was still targeting students which we disagreed on.”

"They agree that further evidentiary hearings would serve little purpose and that the interests of the Parties—and resources of the Court—will be better served by an appeal from a final judgment," said the joint motion for entry of final judgment.

MFI and ADF filed a notice of appeal to the first circuit court on Aug. 4.

How far is MFI willing to take the case?

“We certainly would not hesitate to file a petition to see if the Supreme Court will take this up, if we don't succeed at the First Circuit, but I’m hopeful that we will,” said Whiting. “I think that the district court clearly contradicted existing First Circuit precedent so I think that the First Circuit will recognize that and overturn the district’s decision.”

What does MFI hope to achieve with this case?

Speaking on a personal note, Whiting says he would like to set a precedent that schools shouldn't be placing their hand on the scale one way or the other on contentious ideological issues.

“If they're going to allow kids to wear shirts that support Pride Month or any kind of gender ideology, then they have to also allow kids who dissent from that view,” he said. “These issues are everywhere. They're in the public and they're in our schools. And if we're going to allow people to speak on one side of the issue, then we need to allow people to speak on the other side of the issue as well.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Massachusetts Family Institute lawyers represent Liam Morrison