With winter sports finishing up and the spring season around the corner, a group of Bow parents is asking a federal court judge in New Hampshire to fast-track his decision on whether they can wear pink wristbands at school games to protest transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports.

During the time the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire has taken to rule on the issue, the parents say they have “had to censor themselves when at Bow School District events to ensure that they would not get banned from school property,” according to a court document filed Wednesday.

“Spring sports season is the last chance for plaintiffs to silently express their sociopolitical views at a Bow event this school year, and — because one of plaintiffs’ children is a high-school senior — the last chance to ever express their views at one child’s events,” the filing states.

The federal court has twice denied the parents’ request in an ongoing lawsuit they filed against the Bow School District, which argues the district violated their First Amendment rights during a girls’ soccer game on Sept 17.

In October, parents Anthony and Nicole Foote, Kyle Fellers and Eldon Rashe, a relative of Fellers, filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, hoping to be allowed to silently express their views on women’s sports while the case plays out.

The pink wristbands, emblazoned with “XX,” are a reference to the sex chromosomes typically associated with biological females. The parents are using the wristbands to protest the inclusion of transgender athletes on girls’ sports teams.

One of Foote’s daughters is a senior member of the girl’s lacrosse team. The first varsity game is on April 14, with the middle school game scheduled for April 15.

The filing asks Judge Steven McAuliffe to rule before the first spring sports season game.

“If no ruling occurs by April 14, plaintiffs will understand this court to have constructively denied the injunction,” the court filing states. “Continued delay is effectively a denial of their right to speak.”

The parents said they want to be at both home and away games while wearing pink wristbands on the sidelines.

Anthony Foote said he also hopes to distribute the wristbands or hold signs in the parking lot but has concerns the school district could retaliate against him.

“Protesting in a visible way could cause defendants to remove me from school property and take out a new ‘no tresspass’ order against me,” Foote wrote. “I also continue to worry that protesting on the sidelines in a silent but visible way by wearing a pink wristband during this and future school years could potentially cause Bow School District sports teams to forfeit games, have games suspended and become ineligible for playoffs.”

After the Sept. 17 game between Bow High School’s girls soccer team and Plymouth Regional High School, both Foote and Fellers were issued no-trespass orders by the school district for wearing the pink wristbands.

Fellers, who has two daughters in the Bow School District wrote in the court filing that he plans to attend games even when his daughter isn’t playing to show his support for girls’ sports.

“This protest would also express my commitment to First Amendment freedoms, by commemorating my expulsion from the September 17 game,” wrote Fellers.

He also wrote that next fall, he plans to attend and protest at the girls’ varsity field hockey game because Bow Superintendent Marcy Kelley is one of the team’s coaches.

Kelley’s actions to prevent parents from protesting transgender athletes in girls’ sports have sparked criticism, with even a legislative push to remove her due to allegations she suppressed parents’ free speech during the soccer game.

However, the House killed the resolution, and even if it had passed, it wouldn’t have directly affected Kelley’s employment.

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com