Kyle Fellers, one of the Bow parents suing the school district over its handling of a silent protest against transgender girls in sports, described gender inclusion policies that infringe on  female protections in educational settings as an effort to “appease a mentally ill cult.” 

“A cult in my mind is a group of individuals who quash any type of dissent on their beliefs,” Fellers said in court on Thursday. “I have the right to believe they are biological males.”

His comments came during testimony in federal court in Concord Thursday in a case that centers on First Amendment rights to free speech and expression.

Fellers, along with Anthony and Nicole Foote, and Eldon Rash, a family member of Fellers, filed the lawsuit after a protest at a Bow High School girls’ soccer game against Plymouth Regional High School on Sept 17. 

During the game, the group wore pink armbands marked with “XX,” a reference to the chromosomes associated with biological females, to signal their opposition to transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports. A transgender girl was playing for the Plymouth team that day. Bow police confronted the demonstrators and after the game, Fellers and Foote were issued no trespass orders, accusing them of violating district policies against bullying and harassment.

Fellers in court said his concerns are limited to transgender participation in sports and do not extend to broader issues involving transgender individuals.

Brian Cullen, the school district’s attorney, presented emails in court to argue that wearing the pink armbands was not just about supporting women’s sports but also carried an anti-transgender message.

“No one other than the United States transgender mob supports boys playing on girls’ sports teams,” Foote wrote in another email, dated Aug. 23, to Jay Vogt, the Bow girls’ varsity soccer coach.

While the no-trespass orders have been lifted, the group of Bow parents said they want to be able to wear the pink armbands at all school and athletic events — not just girls’ soccer games — to show support for women’s sports, without facing penalties from the Bow School District.

The Bow School District maintains that wearing those armbands violates its policy and is considered harassment of transgender students, including transgender girls who participate in girls’ sports.

“Wearing XX wristbands, we believe it violates school policy and doesn’t comply with Title IX,” said Cullen, an attorney for the school district. “The school’s position is if they come to games with the bands, we will ask them to take off.”

Del Kolde, an attorney from the Institute of Free Speech Attorneys representing the parents pushed back.

“They call what my clients did as harassment,” said Kolde “We don’t call it harassment. We call this legal passive speech.”