Michigan students sue after school bans ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirts

Two students in Michigan have filed a lawsuit against their school district after they were banned from wearing "Let's Go Brandon" sweatshirts.

The slogan is widely understood as a coded euphemism for a profane curse towards Joe Biden and is popular with conservatives.

The lawsuit, filed by the two middle-school students through their mother, accuses Michigan's Tri County Area school district of "censoring the students' peaceful, non-disruptive political expression in school".

According to the lawsuit, one of the brothers wore a "Let's Go Brandon sweatshirt" to Tri County middle school last February. The sixth-grader was stopped in the hallway by the school's assistant principal who asked that he remove the sweatshirt, saying that it was equivalent to "the F-word".

The boy, fearing further punishment, took off the sweatshirt, the lawsuit said.

The boy then wore the sweatshirt again a few weeks later "to express his opposition to President Biden". to which a teacher responded, "Take the sweatshirt off. I've told you before and won't tell you again."

The lawsuit states that the slogan "conveys the same opposition to President Biden, sanitized to express the sentiment without using profanity or vulgarity", adding that the sweatshirt "did not disrupt class, cause disturbance among students, or invade the rights of others".

A few months later, the boy's older brother also wore the sweatshirt to the same school. The eighth-grader was removed from class and was asked to remove his sweatshirt, which he did.

"Despite prohibiting 'Let's Go Brandon' apparel, the school district permits students to wear apparel expressing other political and social messages, including but not limited to apparel expressing support for LGBTQ+ rights," the lawsuit said.

She added that although the school district "does not prohibit students from the right to express their political views or from wearing clothing with political slogans", its student code prohibits "language or clothing containing language that is offensive, vulgar or profane".