Beth Scaer spoke out against male athletes in girls’ high school sports at a local school board meeting—but the board silenced her just seconds into her remarks and threatened to have the police remove her, claiming that she had violated an unwritten policy against “derogatory comments” for merely referring to a biologically male athlete who competes on the girls’ soccer team as a “tall boy.”
Now, Scaer is fighting back against this unconstitutional censorship.
Attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech, along with local counsel Roy S. McCandless, filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire on behalf of Scaer. The suit challenges the Kearsarge Regional School Board’s enforcement of the unwritten “no derogatory comments” rule used to censor public discussion of controversial topics.
At an August 2024 board meeting focused on transgender athletics and a debate over New Hampshire’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (FWSA), a law reserving girls’ sports for biological females, Scaer attempted to speak against allowing biological males in girls’ sports. Board Chair Alison Mastin cut Scaer off within seconds, declared her speaking time forfeited, and warned that police would intervene if she continued speaking—all because Scaer referred to a biological male who competed on the girls’ soccer team as a “tall boy.”
The lawsuit contends that the board’s actions are unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment. The suit also argues that the unwritten “no derogatory comments” rule is unreasonable, vague, overbroad, and selectively enforced against disfavored viewpoints.
The lawsuit seeks to enjoin enforcement of the “no derogatory comments” rule, prevent discrimination against speech based on viewpoint, and establish that Scaer’s First Amendment rights were violated.
The suit aims to ensure that Scaer—and others—can speak freely at future board meetings without fear of censorship, retaliation, or removal simply for expressing controversial or dissenting views.
To read our full press release on the filing of the case, Scaer v. Mastin, et al., click here. To read the complaint, click here.
