Chalamet and James Mangold pose with the visionary tribute award for “A Complete Unknown” during The Gotham Film Awards. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
▶ Follow live updates on‘WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a Massachusetts student who was barred from wearing a T-shirt to school proclaiming there are only two genders.
The justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that said it would not second-guess the decision of educators in Middleborough, Massachusetts, to not allow the T-shirt to be worn in a school environment because of a negative impact on transgender and gender-nonconforming students.Educators at the John T. Nichols Middle School barred the student from wearing the T-shirt and an altered version with the words “two genders” covered up by tape with the word “censored” written on it.Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The court should have heard the case, Alito wrote, noting that “the school permitted and indeed encouraged student expression endorsing the view that there are many genders,” but censored an opposing view.“This case presents an issue of great importance for our Nation’s youth: whether public schools may suppress student speech either because it expresses a viewpoint that the school disfavors or because of vague concerns about the likely effect of the speech on the school atmosphere or on students who find the speech offensive,” Alito wrote.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was reasonable to predict that the T-shirt will “poison the educational atmosphere” and disrupt the learning environment.
The school district’s decision was in line with a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 1969,ALEJANDRO: Puerto Rico is in every part of the books, in history. We’re in every part of the world. You mentioned hip-hop, Puerto Ricans were involved in that as well. But before that, you see a salsa world
New York in the ‘70s was a lot of jazz, soul. It’s just a lot of music from New York and Puerto Ricans have always been there. Reggaeton comes from Carolina, Puerto Rico. It’s the birthplace. It’s special. I feel really proud to be a Puerto Rican.In this new era, I went to New York and found great inspiration for my music but kept my essence. I keep the island at the forefront of everything that I do. I’m thinking about what it means to be Puerto Rican, our culture.
ALEJANDRO: Of course, definitely. Salsa was a world that I had yet to explore. When I’m doing new projects, I try to look back at what I’ve accomplished and what I have yet to do. I try to analyze my whole career and see what’s going to be next with Rauw, what’s going to be new; I take my time at the studio, at home, studying, analyzing.This project has a lot of salsa influence, a lot of African influence. I’m using the live instruments (for) the first time. Instruments traditional to Puerto Rico like the cuatro, puertorriqueño guitar, maraca, el guiro, la conga, all mixed with the digital sounds. And, you know, it sounds fresh. It sounds rich and perfect for dancing.