The world is drowning in perverse voices declaring right is wrong, wrong is right, and anyone who disagrees is a hateful candidate for reeducation. Amidst this uproar, a few brave individuals are rising up and making their voices heard.

Middle School Student Shows How It's Done

When twelve-year-old Liam Morrison entered seventh grade, he spotted a troubling trend: his school was bombarding students with the pride agenda—posters, catchy slogans, special assemblies, and a push for pride-themed clothing. Armed with the ability to think for himself, Liam decided to wear a T-shirt that proclaimed, “There are only two genders.”

This quiet, thoughtful student was well-liked until the moment he donned that shirt. Within minutes, he was summoned to the principal’s office and ordered to either remove the shirt or go home. Recognizing this as an attack on his free speech, Liam chose to leave. When his parents arrived, they stood firmly with him, much to the dismay of the school administrators.

Despite a demand from the family’s attorney for the school to allow Liam to wear his shirt, the administration stood firm in their discrimination. While classmates sported LGBTQ+ apparel, Liam was silenced. Understanding the magnitude of the issue, Liam and his family decided to file a federal lawsuit.

“If we’d let this slide,” Liam stated, “it would seem like I was willing to let someone tell me what I could and couldn’t say. That’s against the entire reason the United States was made —it would go against our core values.”

Two years later, their case has been shot down and appealed twice, but Liam’s family refuses to back down until it reaches the highest court. As Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), puts it, “This is the very thing the First Amendment was designed to protect against,” he says. “The government does not get to choose which viewpoints are heard and which are not.”

Coffee Shop Owner Stands Up for Her Rights

First Amendment violations are cropping up everywhere—from schools to workplaces to coffee shops. In Idaho, one coffee shop owner, Sarah Fendley, has recently concluded a four-year battle to defend her rights.

Fendley, owner of Big City Coffee, proudly displayed a “thin blue line” flag in honor of law enforcement at her café on the Boise State University campus. Everything was fine until a group of student activists decided they didn’t like it.

Rather than stand by her First Amendment right, the school caved to the demands of the activists and shut down her shop. Recognizing that this was about more than just her business, Fendley filed a lawsuit against the university and its administrators.

After a grueling four-year fight, the court ruled unanimously in her favor. Michael Roe, Fendley’s attorney, expressed gratitude for a right outcome and the court’s upholding of first amendment rights. “It’s what makes this country unique, the right to speak, and think, and believe freely, without the fear some government actor is gonna punish you for it, or some government agency,” Roe stated.

Unsurprisingly, BSU’s legal team disagrees and plans to appeal. Fendley may have won this round, but the fight for her rights isn’t over yet. She stands as a testament to the power of individual voices pushing back against the tide of censorship. It took many decades to erode our free speech rights and it will not be rewon overnight.

Teacher Vindicated in Free Speech Ruling

Peter Vlaming, a French teacher with a stellar record, was dismissed last year by his school board for refusing to use pronouns that didn't align with a student's biological sex. Willing to compromise, but not go against his faith, Vlaming used the student’s preferred name and stayed away from pronouns altogether. This wasn’t good enough for the West Point school board, and Vlaming was promptly fired.

In a historic ruling last December, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in Vlaming’s favor. The court upheld the constitutional right to free speech and ruled that the government cannot “lawfully coerce its citizens into pledging verbal allegiance to ideological views that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Vlaming received another win this September when his lawsuit brought against the West Point school board was settled out of court. Vlaming’s dismissal was removed from his teaching record, he was paid $575,000 for damages, and the school board realigned policies to agree with education policies that uphold free speech.

This is a clear win for Vlaming, Bible believing teachers everywhere, and free speech.

Free Speech is Protected when People Stand Up

These landmark cases point to the reality that the voices being heard are those standing up for the truth. The media might want you to think that your voice will be silenced, but Vlaming, Fendley, and Morrison all stand as living proof that the right to free speech is not so easily shut down. Free speech is gaining traction across the board, and these cases prove that the winds are blowing in our favor.

Other cases with recent wins feature outcomes including a parent’s right to decide whether their child participates in gender identity classes (Tatel, Dunn, and Melton v. Mt. Lebanon School District), the decision that school districts cannot assist with gender transitions without parental consent (T.F. v. Kettle Moraine School District), and the ruling that parental opinions cannot be censored during school board meetings (Moms for Liberty v. Brevard Public Schools).

Jack Phillips also won another round of court cases upholding his right to refuse to create cakes that depict messages in violation of his faith.

Speak Up While We Can

Now, more than ever, we must seize the opportunity to share the gospel and spread hope through gospel tracts while we still have the freedom to do so. But when it's our turn we need to stand up and speak out, to ensure that the truth goes out in a world increasingly desperate for it. The time to act is now —don’t let this moment slip away!

Wondering where to turn if you have a free speech case but can’t afford a lawyer? There are several law offices that take cases pro bono (for free!) on a case-by-case basis. Those are: The Christian Law Association, the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Center for Law and Justice, and Christian Legal Aid Clinic.